


One Day at a Time: The Long Road to Recovery

by CanadianPrincess92



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Anxiety Attacks, Drama & Romance, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Haley is kind of a bitch, Heartbreak, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Masturbation, Minor Violence, Near Death Experiences, Night Terrors, Overdosing, Protective Siblings, Sex, Shane becomes emotionally invested, Shane is not as mean as people make him, inappropriate language
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-19
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-18 01:54:56
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 59,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28859178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CanadianPrincess92/pseuds/CanadianPrincess92
Summary: Garrett and Ruby Parker were twins and the best of friends. But when Garrett moved out of Zuzu City and onto their Grandfather’s old farm in Pelican Town, Ruby was left alone in the city and without her favorite person in the world. Without her brother around, Ruby found herself getting mixed up with the wrong crowd of people and was getting involved with hard drugs. Once a promising future Farmer just like her brother, Ruby was on a downward spiral and Garrett was determined to fix his sister before it was too late.And that’s when Ruby met Shane.Shane wanted nothing to do with anyone in his home town. All he wanted in life was to drink his pain away until he was numb. No one understood how he felt and kept their distance from him. That was until he met the farmer’s sister, who was just as broken as he was, if not more than he was.With their near death experiences and wanting to quit their deadly vices, Shane and Ruby found themselves bonding over their mutual habits and becoming quick friends. But with most terrible things, the past always has a way of catching up with you. Sometimes it's just too damn hard to quit your past.
Relationships: Haley/Male Player (Stardew Valley), Leah/Alex (Stardew Valley), Shane/Female Player (Stardew Valley)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 19





	1. The Introduction

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone,
> 
> I have been VERY hesitate to posting this story again. I had started posted it during the summer of 2020, but took it town and deleted my account when I was going through some hard times. But after working on it again after almost half a year and putting my all into it, I have decided to make a brand new account and repost this story. So if you recognize this story, it is because it was up on here during the summer.
> 
> I have taken a lot of personal events from my own life and have put them into this story, and know that it was difficult to write about things that once were a hindrance to my life. But I have overcome those vices and am a better person that I once was many years ago. Because of these personal struggles, this is why Shane is the most relatable character for me and my favorite companion on the SDV universe. 
> 
> Thank you for taking the time to read my story and I hope you enjoy.

It was the beginning of summer and the sun was surprisingly scorching hot for so early in the morning. Everyone in Stardew Valley was beyond excited for the warm weather to finally arrive to the valley. The ice cream stand in town was open for everyone to enjoy the delicious flavors of strawberry, chocolate, vanilla, starfruit, and cactus fruit. The young children of the valley, Vincent and Jas, while done school for the year and couldn’t have been more excited, still enjoyed some afternoons with their lovely schoolteacher, Miss Penny who would read fairy tale stories to them under the large tree by the run down community center.

The new farmer opened his front door and walked outside and placed his hands onto his hips while admiring all his hard work and accomplishments of his farm since arriving five years ago. Rows on rows of crops ranging from blueberries to the rare starfruits, fruit trees all over the place, bearing apples, oranges and peaches to name a few and farm animals galore. He was so impressed with his work, remembering back to when he first arrived in town, and how the farm looked. He laughed to himself thinking of how bad it was and how he felt pretty much fucked. The farmer even at one point debating moving back to the city, thinking he took on too much, but with the help of the community, he eventually got the swing of things and started making some good money. He was able to install coops and barns for the animals, upgraded his cottage into a three bedroom home with a gorgeous cellar and finally reconstructed the dilapidated greenhouse. His life on the farm was finally a success.

The community of Pelican Town was a small one, being the home of less than 40 people with no one new ever moving into the valley. That was why everyone was so surprised when the rundown farm that once belonged to the beloved late farmer Nicholas Parker was taken over by one of his grandsons, Garrett Parker. Poor Nicholas had died four years before his grandson had taken over the land, who was only 17 years old when his grandfather passed away. None of Garrett’s relatives had any desire to take over the farm and wanted to sell the land to the first bidder but Garrett protested, claiming he wanted to keep it in the family and that he would take it over once he finished college. After a long battle with his parents, they finally agreed to leaving it for him but that is was his responsibility to find the money for upkeep.

Since his family wasn’t the wealthiest of families, Garrett needed to take on any jobs he could find as soon as he turned 16, saving every single cent for his future. He worked in fast food restaurants, as a paper boy, and even worked as a cat sitter for one of his crazy neighbors. But eventually, he landed a job with the giant corporation Joja Mart, who ran grocery stores all over the country. He worked at the corporate office, usually answering phone calls from dissatisfied customers or updating addresses to send out weekly flyers. It was hell but it paid well. So after working for the company for three years, Garrett finally made enough money to inherit the farm.

Once he turned 21 and was all done attending college studying agriculture, Garrett quit his job at Joja Mart, packed his belongings and left for Parker Farm. His parents had been so proud of him for working his ass off to do what he always wanted to do; follow in his grandfather’s footsteps. His twin sister, Ruby was sad to see her brother leave home, but Garrett reassured her she could always come visit during the summer. She was still attending College when Garrett took over their grandfather’s farm and was very close with her brother. They always did things together; played videos games together, went to concerts and played guitar. Garrett had taught Ruby how to play and she turned out to be better than he was. They were best friends.

When he finally arrived at the farm, Garrett was completely overwhelmed with the conditions of the land surrounding the tiny cottage. Overgrown weeds had taken over the field, small rocks and boulders laid everywhere, confusing Garrett as to where they came from, and tons of knocked down trees that needed to be cut to even be moved. No one had maintained the farm since his grandfather’s death and no one else had lived on the land for four years. When he arrived, the Mayor of the town Lewis and the local carpenter Robin had greeted him and were some of the nicest people he’s ever met. That was until he met the rest of the town.

Everyone in Pelican Town was extremely pleasant towards the new farmer and welcomed him with open arms. Garrett quickly befriended the younger adult crowd of townsfolk once he arrived in town, who were all around the same age as him. There was Alex, the gridball player who lived with his grandparents, Sam, the skateboarding guitar player, Sebastian, the loner computer programmer, and Abigail, the weird girl who seemed to follow Sam and Sebastian everywhere they went. After a year in Pelican Town, Garrett had become good friends with Haley and Emily, the sisters who lived next to Sam’s family, Penny and Maru, the teacher and the scientist and lastly Leah and Elliott, the artist and the writer.

Garrett seemed to get along with everyone in town, expect for one person. Shane. Shane lived at the ranch just south of the farm with his wonderfully nice aunt Marnie, and his young goddaughter Jas. Shane was an angry human being who barely spoke with anyone in town and was always seen sitting alone at the local bar with a beer in hand. He had gotten the reputation as the town drunker along with Pam, Penny’s mother. Garrett had tried introducing himself to Shane and tried being friendly, but Shane wasn’t having any of it. He would always tell Garrett to fuck off and leave him alone. After awhile, Garrett gave up. Why try and befriend someone who clearly doesn’t want to be friends with you?

Garrett’s sister Ruby visited as often as she could but never stayed very long. The bus ride from Zuzu City to Stardew Valley was a long trip, taking two hours to go each way because of the amount of stops the bus made on the route. This of course ate into most of the weekend when she would visit, and she could only visit on the weekends she wasn’t working. Ruby promised herself she would save enough money to buy herself a car to cut the trip in half. Ruby and Garrett spent their whole weekends together on the farm playing video games, playing guitar and doing some work on the farm.

They never went into town since Ruby was very shy with meeting new people but that never bothered Garrett, he was just so happy to be hanging out with his sister again, even if it was only for a day and a half. After two years of Garrett living on the farm, Ruby stopped coming every weekend she could because of school. She decided to switch her major half way through to instead take agriculture just like her brother did and hoped to move in with him on the farm once she was done school. Garrett was beyond thrilled with the idea, especially since he came up with it.

***

Garrett patiently waited on his porch for his twin sister to arrive with all her belongings. She had finally completed school, and she was ready to move into his large home on their grandfather’s farm. Although he was excited to have Ruby around, Garrett was also worried.

Since starting college, Ruby had come out of her shell and started partying all the time while there, which led to her developing a drug problem. It started out innocent, with just drinking and smoking weed. But it later developed into a more serious problem. She had become friends with the wrong people, and they introduced her the world of acid, cocaine and ecstasy. She would go out and party every night and neglect her school work. But she didn’t seem to care, she only cared about how good she felt while abusing her new vices, especially cocaine and alcohol. While it made her feel amazing, it was destroying her body.

After receiving a lecture from Garrett, Ruby shaped up a little to finish school. She had barely graduated, only skimming by ever so slightly. Once she was finally done school, Ruby was ready to leave her home in the city, but her parents felt differently. They were scared to let her venture out on her own, but Garrett convinced them that the valley was free from any drugs and she couldn’t possibly find any around, plus he could keep an extra close eye on her. Stardew Valley would be a safer place for her.

The last few months of college were kinder to Ruby, since she had stopped using most of the hard drugs, only using cocaine on occasion, and really focused on graduating but couldn’t get away from it completely. Once she graduated, her habits picked up again and she went even harder than before. Having almost overdosed six months before moving to the valley, Ruby wound up in the hospital after being found unconscious at a house party after taking more of the drug than her body could handle. She was close to dying, but thankfully was found in time. After some much needed therapy and counselling, she was given the okay by her doctors to move out of the city. They actually were the ones to help Garrett convince his parents to let her leave, thinking the outdoors and work on the farm would be better for her healing.

After half an hour of waiting, Garrett saw Ruby’s car pull into the main entrance to the farm. As he approached the car, Ruby got out of the car and Garrett was able to get a good look at his sister. She was skinnier than the last time he saw her, clearly from the abuse she had done to her body after the sheer amount of drugs she used. His mother had warned him that she lost a lot of weight but reassured him that she was already putting weight back on since becoming clean. Her big grey eyes with hints of blue seemed to have lost their optimist glow, now only showing signs of tiredness and withdrawal. Garrett had always been jealous that Ruby got the unique eye color in the family while everyone else had boring hazel eyes. The only thing that remained the same on Ruby was her hair; it was the natural red color that matched his own. Their parents specifically named the two siblings after red gemstones because of their beautifully colored hair. But her hair was cut to a lob style he didn’t remembered from the last time he saw her, considering it had been well past her shoulders before. She also still rocked her signature piercings; her nose ring on her left nostril, her one inch gauged ears and all the silvers studs going up each ear with a hot pink industrial bar to top off her right ear.

Garrett frowned at the sight of his sister, feeling as though if he didn’t leave the city when he did that maybe she wouldn’t have acted so carelessly in college. But his thoughts are interrupted when she looked up into his eyes and smiled at him, which forced Garrett to turn his frown into a smile almost immediately. Garrett helped Ruby bring her belongings inside and upstairs into her prepared bedroom. She didn’t bring much with her, only bringing her clothes, laptop, video game consoles and her beloved guitar. The one Garrett had given to her for their birthday almost a year ago. She didn’t play it much anymore but always kept it to remind of her of her brother.

Once inside her new bedroom, Ruby’s eyes watered at how much it reminded her of her bedroom back in the city. Garrett had special ordered all the decorations to be delivered from Zuzu City and wanted Ruby to feel comfortable on the farm. On the walls were posters of some of her favorite punk bands, images from her favorite video games and pictures of her family. The bedspread was a dark shade of purple, Ruby’s favorite color and the rug by her bed was an exact match of the one from her old room, zebra print.

She gave her brother a long hug while he kissed the top of her head before leaving her alone in her new room. Ruby unpacked her belongings and sat down on her bed while clenching a bottle of whiskey in one hand and her cell phone in the other. She wasn’t much of a drinker as of late, especially because of her depression medication, but she snuck in the odd drink whenever she could. She hid the bottle inside her sweater and headed for her bedroom door. Ruby made her way downstairs towards the front door, telling Garrett she just needed some fresh air after her long drive. He didn’t pry, knowing better than to stand in her way and she was an adult after all.

Ruby made her way through the field, admiring all her brother’s hard work along the way and found a pathway that led south of the farm. As Ruby entered a lovely, forested area, she looked to her left and saw a big beautiful red silo next to a red bricked house. She looked in awe at all the cute animals out front, noticing a pony standing next to his mother. Ruby then turned to the right and spotted a small lake with a dock. Seeing no one around, she plopped herself down on the end of the dock and pulled the whiskey bottle out of the inside of her sweater.

Uncapping the bottle, she took a long swig of the golden liquid, burning her throat on the way down. Ruby stared out at the water, watching the reflection of the sunset through the ripples in the water. It was quiet with only the sounds of the wind and grasshoppers chirping in the distance. She wasn’t used to the quiet, especially coming from such a busy city but she enjoyed it. She closed her eyes after the sun finally set and just listened to the calming noises that surrounded her. Ruby was so entranced by the soothing sounds that she didn’t hear the heavy footsteps from behind her slowly moving towards her. But once she heard the creaking on the dock from behind, she opened her eyes and whipped her head around.

There was a man standing there. He was tall, and actually quite attractive. He was wearing green shoes, grey khaki shorts, a green and blue polo shirt with a blue Joja Mart hoodie that was quite beat up. She looked up at his face, noticing his five o’clock shadow covering his strong chin, his messy black-purple hair and his piercing green eyes that glared at her with confusion and anger. In his hands was a six pack of beer, clearly had the same idea as her to come out into the middle of nowhere and drink. He grunted loudly before speaking to her.

“Who the hell are you?” The stranger asked. But it was almost as though Ruby didn’t hear him.

“Are you deaf, who are you?” He asked for a second time while Ruby stared at him for a full minute in complete silence. He started tapping his foot against the dock, clearly appearing impatient. Ruby shook her head and began blushing from embarrassment before turning back to face the water.

“Oh. Sorry,” She cleared the throat. “I’m Ruby. I can leave if this is your spot.” The man grunted at her for the second time since meeting her, confusing Ruby as to what the hell he meant with his unusual sounds. He shook his head in protest and took a seat next to her and grabbed on one cans of beer.

“Don’t worry about it. You got here first,” He cracked open his can and finished it not even a second later and grabbed another can. “So, are you lost or something? You don’t look familiar,” He glanced down at Ruby’s hands at the bottle of whiskey and began to chuckle. “Woman after my own heart. Just don’t make it a habit, you still got a future a head of you. What are you, like 18?” She laughed at his ridiculous question. Ruby had always looked young for her age, but after all the drug abuse, she was starting to look older. So the compliment from the new stranger was welcomed.

“No, I’m 26 and I’m not lost. I actually just moved in with my brother on the farm just up the road. And who exactly are you?” She took a long sip of her whiskey while she waited for the mysterious man’s answer.

“Shane,” He responded while opening his third can of beer. Ruby quickly noticed how fast this guy could drink without it having any effect on him. Must be a daily occurrence she wondered. “So you’re Garrett’s twin sister? Hard to miss, you two look almost identical. He talks about you all the time whenever he stops by my Aunt’s ranch, kind of hard to ignore when he practically shouts when he talks.” Ruby began to chuckle loudly at Shane’s comment about her brother. Garrett was always a loud talker, especially when he got excited about a topic of interest when his voice would become louder and louder without him realizing. Ruby would have to tell him to be quiet and stop shouting in her ear.

“Oh yeah, you’re Marnie’s nephew. Garrett told me about you. And well, everyone in town. Are you friends with my brother?” Shane shook his head at her question.

“No. I’m not really one to have friends,” For someone who didn’t have friends, he did seem to be quite chatty, she noticed. “So what the hell made you decide to move in with your brother to this boring town? You definitely seem like you belong in the city.” Ruby looked back down at the water in shame.

“I needed to get away from the city. Thought I’d have a better life out in the middle of nowhere. My life wasn’t going in the best direction back in Zuzu City and after some life changing events, that’s when I decided to move here.” She avoided mentioning her past drug use, not wanting to scare off her new acquaintance. Shane simply nodded his head, agreeing with her statement.

“Yeah, sounds about right for me too. I moved in with my aunt shortly before your brother got here with my goddaughter,” Ruby looked back at Shane at the mention of his goddaughter, Garrett had never mentioned Marnie living with a little girl. Shane didn’t appear to be the parenting type with his kind of drinking habits. “Her parents died when she was two and I had to step up and take care of her. Couldn’t raise her without some help and my aunt offered a home for the two of us. End of story.” He threw his can out into the water then grabbed his forth can. Ruby looked back his direction, and the two of them made eye contact for the first time. Shane’s angry demeanor had slowly melted away and he now just looked depressed. He looked deep into her eyes, noticed the beautiful shade of grey they were while they glistened under the moonlight. He continued to admire her features, noting how beautiful she was. But Shane looked away quickly, starting to feel awkward for just staring at her.

“I had a drug addition,” She said softly, forcing Shane to look back at her. Ruby hung her head in shame while she continued speaking. She figured since Shane was so honest about himself that she should do the same. “When I was in college, I made some bad choices and began abusing my body for fun. I overdosed on cocaine six months ago and almost died. Been clean ever since that incident and then I moved here. It’s to help with the farm mainly, but I think Garrett just wants to keep an eye on me for my parents.” She took another drink from the bottle, which was already half empty since she arrived at the dock. Shane’s look turned from depression for himself to sadness for the young woman sitting next to him. He couldn’t believe that she was only 26 years old and already faced with the issues of drug abuse. But then again, he had an alcohol problem since he was old enough to drink.

Being 26 years old himself, his drinking problem didn’t seem to be getting any better. He would drink every day after work, usually started at the Stardrop Saloon in town and finished his night of drinking from his stash of beer he hid under his bed. Shane felt as though he was in a constant haze of drunkenness at all times of the day. He woke up insanely hungover every morning and would drink himself to the point of being black out drunk every night. He barely spent any time with Jas, his goddaughter, who would always be bugging him to play with her or watch a movie with her. She was a persistent little girl that’s for sure. Shane didn’t judge Ruby for her choices, he was the last person who could ever judge someone.

“Just don’t turn your drug addition into an alcohol addiction. You don’t want to go down that road. But good for you for kicking your habit.” He spoke while finishing his forth beer. After a couple moments of silence, Shane decided he had enough beer for tonight, or at least for now until he got back home. This conversation was getting too heavy for him to handle anyways. Shane stood up, picked up the two remaining beers he had and began heading back to the ranch.

Ruby watched him leave without saying goodbye, and she was worried she had said too much. She was now alone again and did not like it. Loneliness was something that always scared Ruby. Her mind would wander and go to those dark places she feared most. She quickly put the bottle back inside her sweater, stood up and headed back to the farm. On her way towards the path to the farm, she spotted out of the corner of her eye Shane wobbling back towards the beautiful red brick home. She paused momentarily to watch him enter the home, making sure he actually made it inside. Once she saw the door close, she continued on her way.

Back at the farm, Garrett had waited up for his sister. It was getting late and he was getting worried about her. He watched the clock as it moved towards midnight, and he decided had waited long enough for his sister to return. He put on his boots and flung open the front door to go running out into the darkness but stopped abruptly when he saw Ruby walking up the steps of the porch. Garrett sighed with relief.

“Ruby, there you are! Where the hell have you been?” He asked sternly. Ruby rolled her eyes.

“Don’t worry Garrett, I’m fine. I was just sitting by a lovely little lake in the forest and talking with a nice man.” She moved past Garrett towards the kitchen and grabber herself a glass of cold water to help calm her growing drunken state, which Garrett noticed.

“Are you drunk, and who the hell were you talking to?” Ruby reached into her sweater and pulled out the half empty bottle of whiskey, which Garrett snatched from her hands and decided to empty the remaining contents of the bottle into the sink. Ruby didn’t protest to his actions. When she confessed to the bottle, she wanted him to take it from her. She wasn’t supposed to be drinking, and she knew that. Drinking is what started her drug abuse. She just wanted to numb herself from reality one last time before completely quitting. Garrett slammed the now empty bottle down onto the countertop and whipped around to face his drunk sister. He threw his hands on his hips and glared at her.

“Ruby, you shouldn’t be drinking. It doesn’t mix well with your medication and you know what happens when you drink,” He stepped towards her and pulled her in for a long embrace. “I’m worried about you. I love you and I don’t want to lose you.” He whispered into her ear. Ruby wrapped her arms around her brother’s midsection and squeezed him tightly. Tears began to form in her eyes from her mistake. She knew she shouldn’t have been drinking, but just couldn’t handle to sheer stress of the move and everything changing around her.

“I’m sorry Garrett. I’m not going to drink anymore, I promise.” She whispered back to him. Ruby placed a small kiss on her brother’s cheek before letting go of her grip around him. She poured herself another cup of water before beginning to retreat upstairs to her bedroom.

“Ruby, you didn’t answer me before. Who were you talking to at the lake?” Ruby turned around the face Garrett who still looked extremely concerned for his sister. Was it a total stranger she was talking to or was it someone from town?

“Shane from that ranch up the road. I must have been in his drinking spot because he showed up shortly after I got there with a six pack of beer. We just talked about how we both ended up in this small town and he advised me not to turn drinking into a problem, which I found shocking considering he appeared to have his own problem with alcohol.” Garrett sighed loudly and rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. He knew all about Shane and his drinking problem. The whole town knew and went to great lengths to avoid him, not that he even minded. Shane hated everyone in town and hated them more when they tried talking to him. But the one thing that seemed surprisingly to him was that Shane apparently had a full on conversation with his sister.

“Was he nice to you?” Garrett asked with hesitation. But was even more surprised when Ruby shrugged her shoulders.

“He wasn’t entirely pleasant, but he wasn’t mean to me. Is that unusual for him?” She asked.

“Yes!” Garrett snorted. “Shane is the town drunk. Well one of them anyway. He’s probably not the best person for you to be socializing with right now with everything you’re going through.” Ruby flashed him a scowl, and Garrett knew damn well why. She stomped towards him and got right in his face, by standing on the tips of her toes to help reach his face.

“Garrett, you can’t tell me who I can and can’t talk to. I’m a fucking adult and it’s my life. I’m doing better now I promise, and evidently I’m the only person in this town to befriend the town drunk. Apparently, I’m a fucking miracle worker!” Her feet found movement again and she whipped around to head back upstairs. Garrett winced when he heard her bedroom door slam, sending waves of vibrations through the rest of the house. He shook his head and decided to head to bed himself, he’d deal with her tomorrow when she was sober. Garrett turned out all the lights in the house before locking the front door. He went to his bedroom and closed the door. Getting to sleep was the most difficult part of the evening, having his mind completely on his sister. Yes, she was a grown up and she could do whatever she wanted but having any kind of freedom was the reason she would up having a fucking drug addition by the time she was 19 years old. He couldn’t help but worry.

Ruby changed out of her day wear, which felt disgusting after being worn all day. She replaced her skinny jeans and zip up sweater with short silk pajama shorts and a matching tank top. She threw her hair into a messy high bun before retreating to the upstairs bathroom to brush her teeth to get the taste of whiskey off her breath. Once back in her bedroom, she crawled into new bed, which was more comfortable than the one at her parent’s house.

As she laid in the darkness, Ruby closed her eyes and tried drifting off to sleep. But her mind was busy. As soon as she closed her eyes, she saw him. Her abusive ex-boyfriend, who threatened to come after her once he found out where she was going. She shook her head rapidly to each side, trying to erase his face. He would have no way to find out where she was and knew she didn’t have to worry. But that didn’t stop her from worrying. If he ever found her, she was afraid of what he would do to her or even her brother. Ruby closed her eyes again, trying to think of a new face to look at while falling asleep. Then she remembered Shane. His beautifully piercing green eyes, his slick black hair with it’s slight purple tinge, his chiseled jawline with the slightly bit of stubble. Ruby was instantly attracted to Shane the moment she saw him. And after Garrett told her about his shitty attitude towards everyone else in town, she was hopeful they could maybe become friends. After all, he didn’t seem to mind talking with her. With Shane still on her mind, Ruby drifted into the best sleep she’d had in months while sliming softly into her pillow.

***

Shane had stumbled into the front door of the ranch with very little grace. He bumped into the cash register at the front of his aunt’s shop, banged his knee against a chair in the kitchen and caused a hell of a loud noise when he dropped a can of Joja Soda on the ground while retrieving it from the fridge. Alcohol took away his ability to creep slowly and quietly through the house, and he wasn’t the only one awake in the house now. His aunt Marnie’s bedroom door flew open, scaring the shit out of him. Wrapping her robe shut around her rounded figure, she crossed her arms in front of her while shaking her head at her nephew.

“Shane, it is after midnight and I was trying to sleep. Jas is trying to sleep. What on earth are you doing getting home so late?” She asked. Normally, Shane would only stay out until ten at the latest, knowing he didn’t want to disturb the rest of the household with his drunken mishaps. So Marnie knew something must have held him up. Shane cleared his throat loudly before taking a long chug of his Joja Cola.

“Sorry. I was talking to someone and lost track of him,” He mumbled. But Marnie was completely taken back by Shane’s confession. He was talking to someone, and apparently long enough for him to lose track of what time it was. Shane had made a friend! A small smile appeared on Marnie’s face, which caused Shane to roll his eyes at her. “It was Garrett’s sister. She was drinking on my dock. Her life might even be sadder than mine with her drug addition.” He blurted out without thinking. Marnie’s eyes went wide at the mention of the drug addition.

“She’s a drug addict?” She asked with horror in her voice. “You two shouldn’t be hanging around each other then. That wouldn’t be good for a drug addict and an alco—” Shane interrupted her rambling by waving his hands at her and telling her to calm down.

“Aunt Marnie, would you relax? No, she was a drug addict. But she’s clean now. She said she moved her to get away from the city and all the shit going on there. Plus she’s helping Garrett out with the farm. Just don’t go around telling people about her, especially all those unemployed moms you hang out with. Leave them out of this,” Shane realized how much he had been saying. Why was he remembering all this information about someone he didn’t even know? And why was he talking to his aunt about the new member of the community? Shane shook his head and walked past Marnie towards his bedroom. But he turned around to say one more thing to his aunt. “And for the record, don’t tell me who I can and can’t talk to. You’re not my mother.” Shane walked out of the kitchen to his bedroom door and closed it behind him before Marnie could respond. While undressing and getting into bed, Shane heard his aunt’s bedroom door close and assumed she went back to sleep. Shane lied down on his pillow with one hand behind his head and closed his eyes. Normally he would drink more after getting home from the dock or the bar, but tonight he was exhausted and just wanted to sleep. The new girl kept him out long enough tonight. The new girl. Ruby. Shane closed his eyes in an attempt to find sleep but once he shut his eyes, he immediately saw her face. Her creamy white flawless complexion, her dramatic grey eyes, her wavy strawberry blonde hair caressing her cheeks, her many piercings, her plump pink lips. Shane threw his eyes open and sat up. He rubbed his eyes roughly, almost as if he were trying to erase her face from the back of his eyelids.

“Really Shane?” He asked himself quietly to himself. Shane was never attracted to any of the girls in town, viewing them all as too immature for him or too good for him. But there was something different about Ruby. She was flawed like he was, trying to fix herself to be a little less broken than she already was. He could tell she was troubled, and it didn’t help that he was almost incredibly troubled himself. Shane brushed off his thoughts of her again, not wanting to think about her, which became difficult for him. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Ruby. She would either be smiling into his eyes or looking out at the water and he would be staring at her side profit. Shane jerked his eyes open again in frustration, groaning at his stupid mind. But then Shane noticed something. He moved his hand down his body to his crotch, noticing his dick had become rock hard with all his thoughts of Ruby.

“Oh come on, really? I only fucking talked to her once.” He muttered to himself. He threw his head back into his pillow, digging it further into the fluffy surface almost as though he was trying to go through the mattress. He wasn’t going to jack off, especially not to the new girl. He refused. But after 20 minutes of trying to sleep it off, his erection still didn’t go away, and Shane had no choice but to get rid of it.

He lifted his lower half up and slid his boxer down to his knees, exposing his thick hard dick to the cool air in his bedroom. He wrapped his big muscular hand around himself, taking some of the precum from the tip in his hand and began pumping himself slowly up and down. He closed his eyes and moaned slowly under his breath, trying to keep quiet so his aunt wouldn’t come busting inside his room unannounced. Behind his closed eyes, he saw Ruby again. He was imagining her sitting on top of his lap, he moved his hand faster. He pictured what she would look like topless with her breasts bouncing in his face, he grinded himself in his hand harder. He bit his lip at the thought of her sucking his throbbing dick, he groaned at the jolt of ecstasy that hit him suddenly.

“Oh fuck…” Then he felt warm liquid seeping down his hand. Shane opened his eyes and reached down at the tissue box under his bed and cleaned himself off. He pulled his boxer back onto his waist and closed his eyes again.

“You’re fucking pathetic.” He murmured to himself, feeling disgusting for jacking off while thinking about a total stranger. He couldn’t help but wonder how the fuck he would face her again? Shane decided he would avoid Ruby at all costs, which would be extremely difficult in a town with less than 40 people. Shane tossed and turned the whole night, trying so hard to not think about her again. And once he saw the sun starting to rise, Shane knew he didn’t sleep a wink.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	2. The Community

Ruby woke to the sound of cows mooing in the distance and to the smell of freshly brewed coffee. She had expected to be unbelievably tired when she woke up after her first night at her brother’s farm but was shocked when she actually had the best sleep she’d had in her life. She felt completely rested and awake, even though it was only 7:15 in the morning. She must have had a pretty good dream to sleep completely through the night. Normally Ruby had nightmares about her ex-boyfriend killing her or her dying in the hospital, always something about her dying. But not last night. She found herself smiling and happy when she woke up but couldn’t for the life of her remember her dream.

Ruby finally peeled herself out of the comforts of her bed after lying there for 15 minutes, put on a light hoodie and went downstairs. As she made her way to the main floor of the farmhouse, Ruby’s eyes gawked at the magnificent display on the kitchen table; plants filled with bacon, eggs, hash browns and toast, a large bowl of fruit salad, several varieties of jams and marmalade and two steaming hot cups of coffee. Her eyes looked around in amazement before making their way to Garrett, who was sitting in one of the chairs of the kitchen table quietly reading a novel. Ruby shuffled her feet towards the table and sat down across from her brother. He looked over towards her with a smile and put his book down.

“Good morning, sis. You’re up early!” He chimed at the surprising arrival of his sister. Usually Ruby would sleep in well past noon and waste the day away. But he thought he could maybe coax her out of bed with some delicious smelling food, and he was impressed with himself when it actually worked. Without a moment of hesitation, Ruby took a forkful of bacon and a bit of eggs and jammed them into her mouth, throwing Garrett a smile of approval.

“Well I slept so good last night, best sleep I’ve had since who knows when. I was so comfortable in my bed that I didn’t want to move, but I just couldn’t resist the smell of fresh coffee and bacon.” She winked while taking a giant gulp of her black coffee. She seemed shockingly happy that morning, Garrett thought to himself. But she was just so amazed by the food that he had prepared for her. Everything tasted so incredibly fresh, and like nothing Ruby had ever tasted before. Her brother had gotten everything on the table from his very own farm and Ruby was very impressed. Garrett giggled at his sister while taking his own bite of the food on his plate.

“I thought I’d surprise you with a good meal on your first day living here with me, sort of a celebratory breakfast! But I also wanted to say I’m sorry about last night. You were right; you’re an adult and I can’t tell you what to do. I just love you and want you to make good choices and be that same happy girl I grew up with again. Also, if you want to be friends with Shane, then go ahead.” He reached out and placed his hand on top of Ruby’s hand and squeezed it tightly. She smiled softly at him while she swallowed the food in her mouth.

“I’m sorry too Garrett. I shouldn’t have been drinking, especially with a complete stranger. But like I said last night, I promise to try quitting with the drinking,” Ruby and Garrett continued eating the buffet of food in front of them until they were both incredibly full. Garrett cleaned the dishes while Ruby packed up the leftover fruit into Tupperware containers and put away all the condiments from the table. With everything cleaned up and dealt with, Ruby turned to her brother. “So Garrett, what’s on today’s agenda?”

“Well, we need to head into town to pick up the seeds I had Pierre set aside for me. I ordered some more melons and starfruit to be brought in from out of town and both of those fruits are big sellers. So we’ll need to plant those bad boys first, then tend to the animals, check on all the fruit trees around the field and lastly, check out the ancient fruit in the greenhouse. Are you ready for a full day’s worth of work?” He winked at her. Ruby rolled her eyes in retaliation.

“Yes I’m ready. The work will be good for me. Let me just shower quickly and I’ll be good to go. Just give me 15 minutes!” She rushed off towards the stairs and to her bathroom while Garrett retreated to his bedroom to get dressed in his work clothes. She striped off her clothes and pulled her hair out of it’s messy bun before stepping into the hot steamy water.

To Ruby’s surprise, even the pressure from the shower head was perfect. Everything about this place seemed to be perfect. Not bad for a farm in the middle of nowhere. Ruby thought back to when her grandfather was the one running the farm and how outdated everything was. It originally only had one bathroom with the worst water pressure in the world, and only had one bedroom. Garrett and she used to have to sleep on the floor on an air mattresses when they visited their grandfather during the summer. They loved visiting him but at the same time couldn’t wait to return to the city and to their comfy beds and proper working shower. She was impressed with how much work Garrett had invested into upgrading the small cottage from her childhood into the large home it was now. She had her very own bathroom while Garrett used the main floor’s for his own use. Ruby could really get used to her very own living space.

While she closed her eyes and ran her fingers through her soapy hair under the hot water, Ruby thoughts began to go through the events of the previous 24 hours, thinking about what an overwhelming adventure it had been. One minute, she was saying good bye to her parents in the city and the next minute, she’s back on Parker Farm with her brother. After feeling completely unhappy for the better part of five years, Ruby finally felt some peace.

Then her mind randomly jumped to the strange man from the night before. But it wasn’t unwelcomed in any way. Ruby was immediately attracted to Shane when she first saw him, even though he came off as a bit of a douche bag at first. But there was just something about him Ruby was intrigued by. She couldn’t help but linger on the thought of him.

While the soapy water travelled down her naked physique, Ruby couldn’t help but start to feel hot, and it was not from the temperature of the water. Her nipples began to become erect with desire while her mind presented images of the tall and handsome man. She felt her core start to pulse when she pictured Shane’s muscular hands grip the beer can to the point of almost crushing it. She thought of his strong chin again, remembering how he grinded his teeth with frustration and how hot he looked while doing it. Ruby began to trail her hand down her body towards her sensitive area. Her fingertips grazed against her opening, feeling the wetness from her body. But as she slipped two fingers inside, she heard a loud BANG, BANG, BANG. Her eyes flew open and removed her fingers, almost slipping and breaking her neck.

“Come on, Ruby! What’s taking so long? We got lots of work to do!” She could hear Garrett’s voice through the door, pulling the erotic thoughts of Shane from her mind. She sighed with irritation as she finished off with her shower. She stepped out of the shower, wrapped a towel around her body and another around her hair. Ruby opened the bathroom door to find Garrett leaning against the wall with his arms crossed while tapping his foot. She rolled her eyes at her brother’s impatience.

“Sorry, the water just felt really good. Didn’t want to come out. Give me five minutes.” Her face was flushed with a light pink hue that wasn’t because of the hot water, but Garrett wouldn’t know the truth. She disappeared into her room, closing the door behind her. After scrubbing the rest of the water droplets of her body and towel drying her hair, Ruby got dressed for her first day of farming. Before leaving the city, Ruby was able to do one last shopping trip for her new farm wear. She purchased new shirts, shorts, pants and of course, work boots. For her first day of farm work, she decided on a plain black tank top, short blue jean shorts and her new work boots. She tied her damp strawberry blonde hair back into two small pigtails and when she was done, she walked up to her floor length mirror to give herself a look over. Ruby didn’t need make up since she was gifted with beautifully clear skin, however she did like to wear eyeliner and lipstick from time to time. But she had decided to forgo any make up, choosing to be au natural. She nodded with approval at her final look and left her room, only to find Garrett still leaning against the wall with his arms still crossed against his chest. He panned his eyes over to Ruby and smiled.

“Finally,” He laughed with an exaggerated tone in his voice. “But hey, you look awesome! Definitely some farm girl vibes coming off you. It suits you. Now come on, Pierre is waiting for us!” He stepped off the wall and ran downstairs with Ruby trailing just behind him. He grabbed his backpack that was located by the front door and off they went.

The walk into town took about ten minutes and on the way, Garrett went on and on about the townspeople to refresh Ruby’s memory of everyone. He spoke about the shop owner Pierre, his wife Caroline and their daughter Abigail, who was the same age as the twins He mentioned Harvey and Maru, the doctor and assistant at the local clinic. Maru was a few years younger than most of the young adults in town, while Harvey was just over 30 years old, making him and Elliott the same age and the oldest bachelors in town. His closest friends in town were Alex, Sebastian and Sam. But Garrett and Alex had the closest connection since they both seemed to have similar interests. Garrett then mentioned Haley and seemed to linger on the subject of her for quite awhile. He blushed when he described her long wavy blonde hair and her captivating smile and Ruby figured he must have been pining after her affection but hadn’t had the balls to say something to her.

Garrett quickly cleared his throat and changed subjects to some of the other townsfolk just as the siblings reached the prime area of Pelican Town, the town square. It was a small area with only ten or so buildings scattered around. Ruby looked around and noticed a few houses located around the middle of town, the clinic and the general store, the local bar, the library off in the distance and lastly a Joja Mart, which made Ruby shutter in disgust. She didn’t plan on ever going there even if it was a matter of life and death.

“There’s a fucking Joja Mart here?” She hissed through her teeth. Garrett laughed while he caught a glimpse at her face. He knew how much she hated Joja Mart after how they treated her brother during his employment there.

“Yeah unfortunately. The store manager Morris is always dropping by Pierre’s store trying to steal his customers. The guy is a total dick. Everything at Joja is so much more expensive than it is at Pierre’s, so Morris is always promoting sales on his produce and the quality is garbage,” Garrett put his arm around Ruby’s shoulder and pulled her close. “Between the two of us, we’ll put that place out of business with our kick ass products!” He let out a loud hoot. Ruby rolled her eyes and pushed her brother away from her. The two made their way into Pierre’s shop and were greeted with a warm welcome and bright smile from the middle aged man sitting behind the counter. He pushed his glasses up his nose and rose from his chair.

“Garrett, good to see you!” Pierre reached out and shook his hand firmly. He then turned his full attention to Ruby and offered his hand for a handshake, which Ruby gladly accepted. “And you must be Ruby. My name is Pierre. I’m so happy to finally meet you. You brother here has talked about you none stop for the past two weeks.” Garrett blushed with embarrassment as Pierre ratted him out to his sister. Ruby giggled at her brother’s red face then smiled at the shop owner.

“It’s so nice to meet you too, Pierre.” He reciprocated the smile. The three talked for a couple minutes about Garrett’s plans for the field this season and his upcoming plans for fall. All of which put the biggest smile on Pierre’s face knowing he’d be getting lots of business over the summer and fall seasons. Pierre walked back behind the cash register and grabbed a large box filled with the seeds Garrett had ordered. Ruby’s eyes widen at the sight of not only melon and starfruit seeds, but also some sunflowers which were Ruby’s favorite flower and hot peppers. Garrett knew how much Ruby enjoyed spicy foods and wanted to surprise her with some pepper plants. Pierre began checking them out when a door at the back of the shop flew open, and a beautiful purple haired woman appeared. Ruby knew immediately who she was based on her brother’s description of everyone in town. Abigail was the only one with purple hair.

“Hey Garrett,” Abigail punched him lightly in the arm as she greeted him. Her attention turned to Ruby and threw her a big toothy smile. “Is this Ruby?! Oh my Yoba, you’re finally here! Wow, you two look so much alike, it’s so crazy!” Abigail pushed Garrett out of her way, knocking him back and almost bumping into Leah, who was waiting in line behind them. Abigail flung her arms around Ruby and hugged her while rocking back and forth. Ruby didn’t know what to do expect for lightly pat the back of Abigail’s arm to return the greeting. She laughed awkwardly.

“And you’re Abigail I’m assuming. Nice to meet you.” She said while Abigail finally let her go. Pierre cleared his throat and shot his daughter a flustered look, which she completed ignored. Abigail pulled Ruby’s hand and the two walked off to the side while Garrett finished paying for his haul of seeds. He stuffed the contents of the box into his backpack and moved aside so Leah could pay for her purchase. He said a quiet apology to the artist, but she wasn’t at all bothered. Garrett joined his sister and Abigail, who was still talking her head off.

“I’ve heard so much about you, I just feel like I already know so much about you,” Ruby turned her head and rolled her eyes in Garrett’s direction, who let out a small giggle under his breath. There was no way Abigail knew even half of what was going on in Ruby’s life. She turned back to Abigail and smiled. “I hope we’ll see you and Garrett at the Saloon tonight. Seb and Sam will be there too for our weekly hang out.” Abigail flashed a look at Garrett, silently demanding that they should come to the Saloon. He looked towards his sister, trying to read the emotion on her face.

“Maybe. I don’t want to overwhelm Ruby on her first day in town. We’ll get all of our work done first and see how we feel. But we have to get going Abby, we got a lot of work to get done. I’ll text you later and let you know if we’re coming.” Abigail nodded at Garrett and smiled back towards Ruby.

“Okay, hope to see you two later! Nice to meet you again Ruby.” Abigail waved goodbye and took off back through the door at the back of the shop. Garrett and Ruby waved to Pierre as they exited the store. Ruby let out an exhausted giggle once they were back outside.

“Is she always so cheerful?” She asked sarcastically, making her brother laugh.

“That’s Abigail for you. She means well but sometimes, it’s almost too much. I’m surprised Sebastian can stand being around her and Sam’s disgustingly cheerful dispositions all the time. He must have the willpower of a saint to not explode at all their positive outlooks.” Ruby let out a loud laugh and threw her head back. Sebastian sounded like someone Ruby could definitely get along with. It’s not that Garrett and herself weren’t happy people, but they weren’t a massive fan of people who were so overjoyed at everything that came their way.

When Ruby turned her attention back towards Garrett, she spotted someone staring at her from the far left side of town, coming out of another entrance into town. He was wearing long blue pants, a matching blue shirt with the Joja Mart logo and the matching blue hat. She concentrated closer on the man, and realized it was Shane. Ruby threw him a small smile and the two stared at each other for a few seconds before Shane broke the awkward eye contact and resumed walking. He lifted the collar of his shirt around himself to attempt to hide his face, which it didn’t. He could be seen walking faster almost to the point of running and headed to the far side of town where the Joja Mart was located.

“Shane works for Joja Mart?” She asked almost as though the uniform wasn’t enough proof. Garrett pulled lightly on Ruby’s arm and the two returned to walking back to the farm.

“Yeah he does but he hates working there according to Sam. He usually goes straight to the Saloon after to drink off his work day. Not much else in town for work unfortunately.” Garrett explained. No wonder he was so miserable, Ruby thought to herself. Maybe she would make a trip over to Joja Mart after all. But it wouldn’t be to buy a damn thing.

***

Garrett and Ruby spent the remainder of the day planting seeds, feeding and caring for all the animals, plucking oranges and peaches from all the fruit trees and harvested all the ready ancient fruits. The two brought all the ready fruits over to the shed that housed all the preserve jars and kegs were located. Garrett had filled the whole shed with rows and rows of them, stating that making jellies and wines were a great profit. Together, they filled each jar and keg with the fruits and left them to process, which apparently took a couple of days. They mainly used the ancient fruits since they were the most valuable of the fruits, which made the jellies and wines worth a pretty penny. Plus, the ancient fruit products tasted out of this world. All the other unused fruits were put into their collection bin, which would be picked up by Mayor Lewis the next morning.

As the sun began to set, Garrett and Ruby had completed all their work. Ruby was sweaty, sticky and sore everywhere. Garrett felt great, considering this was his daily life for the past five years. The two dropped off their tools in the tool chest that was right by the porch steps and went inside to prepare dinner.

“What are you in the mood for?” He asked Ruby while she peeled her boots of her feet. She sat down at the kitchen table and grabbed her foot to examine the fresh blister on the back end of her foot. She probably should have worked her brand new boots in before wearing them for an entire day. She hissed in pain while she rubbed her sore soles. Garrett began laughing and shaking his head.

“What is so damn funny?” She barked. He threw his hands in the air.

“Nothing, nothing at all. You’ll get used to the work before you know it,” He said while grabbing a frozen pizza out of the oven. “I remember back when I first got here and after my first day. I laid in the bathtub for over an house after filling it with ice cold water. I sobbed into my knees wondering what the hell I got myself into.” He popped the pizza into the oven and set a timer. Ruby let out a huff, sounding like a half scoff half laugh.

“Well I sure as hell am not going to cry. But damn, how do you do it everyday?” She asked while she switched her attention to her other foot, noticing another blister. Garrett shrugged.

“I have to. It’s my job now and if I just gave up when my body hurt, I wouldn’t make any money. Eventually the pain went away and just became part of my daily routine,” He tore off his shirt, threw it on the ground and struck at muscle man pose while flexing his muscular arms, causing Ruby to burst out into a hysterical laughter while shaking her head. “Plus, all this hard work got me in great shape! You should see the looks I get when I go to the beach for a swim. The ladies love it.”

“Yes Garrett, I’m sure they do,” She replied sarcastically while standing up. “While you show off your _rock hard abs_ to no one, I’ll be in the shower. I need to clean myself up if we’re going to the Saloon tonight.” Garrett gave her a shocked look. He didn’t expect Ruby to be ready to meet the rest of town after just one day. His worry set in.

“Are you sure Ruby? I don’t want you to be overwhelmed today, it wouldn’t be good for you. And did you take your medication today?” Always the protective brother. Ruby smiled and nodded her head.

“Yes Garrett, I’m sure I want to go, and I did take my medication. I’m feeling great today, minus my sore body. Please, I want to go out and have fun.” She threw him her famous puppy dog eyes and knew he wouldn’t be able to resist the plea of his sister.

“Okay fine we’ll go after dinner. But no drinking!” He pointed at her sternly as he disappeared into his bedroom. Ruby jumped with excitement while clapping her hands together and ran upstairs to her bathroom, well more like limped upstairs. She got undressed and submerged herself into the hot water for the second time today. Ruby closed her eyes and let the boiling water soak her sore muscles, but she couldn’t have been happier. For the first time in a long time, she had done a full day of work. Back when she was in college, Ruby struggled to keep jobs because she would constantly come into work high as a kite or still drunk from the night before. It was embarrassing now that she was looking back on it. She was forever grateful for her brother’s offer to have her come live with him and earn her keep on the farm. She felt like she was finally where she needed to be.

Once she was done cleaning herself off, Ruby wrapped a towel around her head while putting on her clothes, just a simple shirt and shorts to wear while she ate her dinner. Ruby made her way back downstairs and found two slices of pizza on a plate for her on the table and could hear Garrett’s shower running. She sat down and shoveled the two slices of pepperoni pizza into her mouth. She was starving after her long day of work.

While she finished her final bite of pizza, Garrett emerged from his bedroom freshly showered and shaved, wearing his chosen outfit for the evening. Blue jeans with factory made rips and a plain black t shirt. Garrett’s style was very different than Ruby’s, where he was very plain and comfortable looking, while Ruby’s style was more colorful. She was more fun with her style and always wanted to try new trends. Ruby cleaned off her plate and placed it into the sink.

“Okay, I’m all done eating. I just need to finish getting ready. Give me like a half an hour.” Garrett nodded his head and Ruby ran back upstairs. She grabbed her hairdryer and dried off her hair. Thankfully, her hair only took ten minutes to completely dry when she used the hairdryer, and it always turned out more straight when she did. She ran some non frizzing product through her hair and finally styled it. Ruby put on her signature make up look; the lightest amount of foundation, heavy black cat winged eyeliner on top of a brown eye shadow and finished the look with her favorite dark red lipstick.

With her face complete, she ran over to the closet and chose her outfit. After much contemplation, Ruby decided on a burnt orange cropped tank top and black denim short shorts with black and white low top converses to match. Her clothes didn’t quite fit her like they once did to her disappointment. Having lost a bunch of weight earlier in the year, this made most of her clothes quite loose on her. But luckily, she wasn’t as skinny as she was three months prior and continued to put on a healthy amount of weight.

Once she was done getting dressed, Ruby stepped in front of her mirror for the final touch ups. This was her first time meeting the rest of the people in town and she wanted to look good. She ran her fingers through her hair, flipping it all to one side. She did a 360 degree turn, looking over every inch of her body. When she was happy with what she saw, she grabbed her phone and ran out of her room. She found Garrett playing a video game on the downstairs TV and she had to clear her throat to get his attention. He paused his game and looked over with a smile.

“Ready to go?” He asked while turning off his game and the TV. Ruby nodded and the two headed out the front door. The air was cooler once the sun went down but the humidity didn’t go anywhere. Shorts were definitely the right choice Ruby thought. Back in the city, the muggy air from all the pollution made you feel like you’d suffocate just from breathing, but in Stardew Valley, pollution was nonexistent. Barely anyone had cars and for those who did, they never took them out around town. Everything was within walking distance so it would be a complete waste of gas and wear on the car.

Once they arrived in the town square, Ruby quickly noticed how much quieter it was compared to this morning. She could hear a pin drop from the deafening silence. The only thing she could hear was the waves crashing against the dock at the beach from where she was and was immediately excited to think about spending some time at the beach one day. Garrett and Ruby made their way to the dark brick building located in the middle of the square that was covered in green vines all the way around. Beside the front door there was a sign with The Stardrop Saloon written on it with a small red arrow pointing to the door to it’s immediate right. Garrett opened the door to the saloon and together they entered.

“Hey Garrett! Good to see you!” A loud voice yelled from behind the bar. Ruby looked over to see a larger mustached man waving his hand high over his head. Garrett moved towards the bar and took a seat on a red stool, with Ruby claiming the seat next to him. The bar was quite empty for a Friday night, but it was only 7:45. More people would start showing up as the night went on.

“Gus, this is my sister Ruby. This is Gus, the owner of the Stardrop Saloon,” She flashed Gus a smile as he reached out to shake her hand. “And this is Emily, the bartender.” Ruby gawked at the bright blue color of Emily’s hair. It looked as thought it could have been her real hair color. Emily smiled brightly before throwing her a wink and left to take care of the loud blonde woman at the other end of the bar’s order.

“Hello Ruby, very lovely to meet you,” Gus replied. “Now what can I get for you two?” Garrett ordered a beer while Ruby ordered a water and Gus poured their drinks immediately. The two stood up and moved to an empty booth beside the unlit fireplace to enjoy their drinks. Garrett spoke quietly about the obnoxious woman at the end of the bar, telling Ruby her name was Pam and that she was an alcoholic. Ruby’s thoughts immediately went to Shane.

After two more beers and waters, the saloon started to become crowded with the townspeople. Everyone greeted and introduced themselves to Ruby, and she was delighted to meet everyone. Mayor Lewis and Marnie, the owner of the ranch just south of the farm were first to arrive and welcome her to the town. Next was Clint, the local blacksmith and Willy, a fisherman who owned the bait and tackle shop on the beach. Clint was a quiet man who didn’t talk much and seemed to be distracted by Emily from the moment he entered the establishment. Willy was very polite and had kind eyes.

Afterwards Elliott and Leah made their way inside the saloon. Elliott was so charming and handsome, and he made Ruby blush when he kissed her hand upon their greeting. Leah was stunningly beautiful with long orange hair, who greeted Ruby with a warm embrace. Robin and Demetrius were the next couple to arrive and paid a visit to the sibling’s table. Ruby especially loved Robin, who was so motherly and reminded her of her own mother. Demetrius spoke like a typical genius and used large words that no one around him could understand. Lastly, Doctor Harvey came strolling in and stopped to greet Ruby before retreating to join Elliott and Leah at a table on the other side of the saloon. She began to feel lightheaded from all the introductions.

“Wow, everyone is so unbelievably nice. But it’s going to be hard remembering everyone’s names,” She took a sip of her water before taking a look around the room. “I thought we were meeting your friends here tonight. Where are they?” Garrett looked down at his watch, noting the time. It was 9:05, and his friends usually stopped by around 9:00 for their weekly game of pool. Just as Garrett lowered his wrist, Abigail, Sebastian and Sam walked inside the bar. Garrett waved them down as he and Ruby stood from the booth.

“Hey Garrett, you made it,” Sam said excitedly while waving Emily over to place his order. “Em, can I get the usual? We’ll be in the back. Thanks!” The blue hair waitress nodded with a smile and trotted off to the back kitchen. The two guys turned their attention to Ruby. Sam’s smile was as bright as his hair was, while Sebastian simply smirked.

“Sam, Seb, this is my sister Ruby.” Sam enthusiastically shook her hand while Sebastian nodded his head. She could now see what Garrett meant when he said Sam and Abigail were both rays of sunshine while Sebastian was basically a storm cloud. She giggled to herself while the five of them moved to the backroom. Sebastian grabbed his pool cue off the wall and began prepping the end of the stick for their first game. Garrett and Sam played rock, paper, scissors for who would play against Sebastian first. Garrett won. Abigail parked herself in front of one of the arcade games while Sam sat next to Ruby on the couch.

“So, how are you liking Stardew Valley so far?” Sam asked.

“I like it so far. It’s pretty different from Zuzu City, that’s for sure. But everyone’s been really nice and I’m really liking being on the farm. The pain from all the work will take some getting used to though.” She joked while rubbing the back of her neck, causing Sam to giggle. 

“I could never do that farm work; it would be way too hard for me. I work over at Joja Mart as the custodian. It sucks sometimes but I get to listen to my music all day while I mop the floors so I can’t complain!” His cheerful demeanor was definitely a lot for Ruby to handle. But she gave a smile anyways to avoid any awkwardness. She then turned her attention to Sebastian, who was waiting while Garrett took his shot.

“What do you do for work, Sebastian?” She could see his eyes move towards her through his long black hair and he sighed before answering.

“Computer programming. I work from home. Sort of freelance.” He watched as Garrett’s shot sunk a striped orange ball, making Sebastian grunt in frustration. He turned his attention back to the game while Ruby turned her attention back to Sam.

“So, how do you all know each other?” She asked. Sam chimed in.

“We’ve all been friends since elementary school and all through high school. We also attended school with Alex, Haley, Penny, Leah and Maru. Don’t know if you’ve met them yet,” Ruby shook her head. “Well you’ll meet them eventually. Oh yeah, and we went to school with Shane too,” Ruby’s eyes lit up at the sound of Shane’s name. “Have you met him yet? He’s a real treat.” Ruby frowned at Sam’s tone. Was Shane really that bad?

“I met him yesterday actually when I went out for a late night walk. He didn’t seem so bad. We actually had a nice conversation.” Ruby rolled her eyes at her own response. Nice wasn’t the word she would have used to describe her chat with Shane. Intense might be a better word. Sebastian scoffed from the pool table while he took his second shot, sinking another ball.

“He probably wasn’t that bad because he was already drunk as fuck. He’s a pretty shitty person when he’s sober and even less shitty when he’s drunk.” He mumbled.

“Yeah, he’s not the best person to get mixed up with.” Abigail added. And just as she spoke, the bell at the front door rang, signaling someone entering the bar. Ruby looked up and saw him. Still wearing his Joja Mart uniform, only his hat was now rolled up in his back pocket. Shane made his way over to the corner of the bar and grabbed a beer from Emily. He leaned against the wall and looked down at the ground while he drank his first beer and quickly moved on to his second. The others in the back room didn’t even seem to notice him come inside the bar, almost as though he was invisible to the rest of the world, but not to Ruby.

“I’ll be right back you guys.” Ruby stood and quickly walked out of the pool room, almost as though she was running away from them. Sam and Abigail shared a confused look with each other, noting the looks they both noticed on Ruby’s face when they mentioned Shane. Sam turned his attention to Garrett.

“Did we say something wrong?” Sam asked in a hushed voice. Garrett looked up from the pool table and out towards his sister to see her walking towards the direction of the bathroom, which was located down the long hallway just outside the pool room. He shrugged his shoulders.

“Seems fine to me,” Garrett sighs with worry. “You guys, Ruby has been through a lot in the last few months and she’s just really introverted because of everything she went through. Don’t mind her. She’ll open up once she gets to know you better and is more comfortable here.” Garrett leaned back over the table and took his shot, sinking another ball and making Sebastian groan in anger.

“What happened with her, is she okay?” Abigail asked.

“I’d rather not talk about it, Abby. It’s pretty personal and Ruby wouldn’t like me discussing it with you. If you feel that you need to know that badly, ask her yourself.” Garrett’s tone was harsh. The last thing he wanted for his sister was everyone talking about her drug addition and almost dying because of it. No one needed to know. Abigail slinked back into her chair and continued playing her arcade game. Garrett sunk the last ball, and had actually won the game against Sebastian, who wasn’t impressed. Since moving into Pelican Town, Garrett is the only person who could beat Sebastian in a game of pool, which Sebastian both loved and hated.

“My turn!” Sam yelled while peeling himself off the couch. He yanked the stick from Garrett’s hand while Sebastian set the pool balls up for another game. Garrett looked out into the open area of the bar again to see exactly where his sister went.

***

Ruby stood in the dark hallway by the bathrooms for a moment to collect her thoughts. She didn’t understand why she was so nervous to talk to Shane again. She had only spoken with him once, but she couldn’t get the image of him out of her brain. She’d never been so instantly attracted to anyone before and it felt so foreign to her. She cleared her throat and turned the corner towards the bar. She leaned against the countertop and signaled for Emily. The bartender walked over and took Ruby’s order.

“One water coming up!” Emily repeated her order and walked away to grab a glass. Ruby then turned her attention to Shane, who was still looking down at the ground drinking his third or forth beer. She flashed him a smile.

“Hey Shane,” She said with a cheery tone. He broke his gaze with the floor and looked up at her face, seeing her cheeky grin. He was not amused. Without a reply, Shane looked back down and continued to sulk into his beer. Ruby took a step closer, thinking maybe he didn’t hear her. “How was work today?” She asked, causing Shane to jolt his gaze back to her, now staring at her with a pissed off look.

“Why are you even talking to me? Just because we had one conversation doesn’t mean we’re friends. Now fuck off and leave me alone.” Ruby’s smile quickly turned into a frown while Emily placed her drink down in front of her. Emily looked at the two of them, her eyes shifting back and forth between Ruby and Shane. Without saying anything, Emily walked away. This wasn’t her business. Ruby grabbed her drink and took a step backwards.

“Sorry.” She said softly, Shane almost completely missing her apology and walked away swiftly back to the pool room. Shane watched as she turned around and walked away, feeling guilty for sending her off like that. But why was she so keen on talking to him, he wondered. She already had enough shit to deal with and he didn’t want to be another burden to her already fucked up life. He already felt like one to his aunt and Jas.

Before Ruby disappeared completely out of his sight, Shane caught one last glimpse of her curvy frame. He admired the way her shorts hugged her hips and ass and how her tank top looked around her chest, thinking orange was definitely a good color on her. But Shane knew his thoughts were pointless. He finished off his beer, paid his tab and left. He wasn’t anywhere close to being drunk yet, but he didn’t want to hang around all those people anymore. He’d finish at home all by himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	3. The Confession

Shane walked out of the backroom of Joja Mart, relieved he was finally finished his workday. Sam waved at Shane as he passed by but was completely ignored. Sam watched Shane as he threw the hoodie of his sweater onto his head and marched out of the front doors of the grocery store. Outside, it was pouring rain which was something Shane was thankful for. The humidity in town had been unreal for the past few weeks since the beginning of summer. And with the Luau coming up in the next few weeks, the weather stood a good chance of being bearable. Shane didn’t enjoy the monthly festivals in town, as he thought they were stupid and pointless. But he still attended them to still look like a member of the community. Also because his aunt forced him to go.

Shane put his headphones into his ears and started his walk home. He sighed with frustration knowing he couldn’t go to the saloon since Marnie needed him to head home and look after Jas for the evening. Marnie had her weekly meeting with Lewis scheduled and she didn’t want to miss another one from Shane’s drunken escapades, so she demanded he come straight home after work. Shane knew his aunt’s meetings with the mayor were complete bullshit. She played them off as if it were business related, to help better the ranch. But Shane knew she was fucking the mayor, and they kept it a secret from the rest of the community, which was Lewis’ decision. Shane hated Lewis for treating his aunt like shit. Did he even care about her, or was he only looking out for himself? Shane didn’t know and pretended not to care or even notice. But deep down, he had hoped she could drum up the courage to end their affair.

As Shane made his way towards the center of town, he saw the door to Pierre’s shop fly open and out walked Ruby. But to Shane’s surprise, it was only Ruby, who was usually seen walking around town with her brother attached to her hip. Shane stopped in his tracks at the sight of her, thinking about the last time they spoke and how he told her to fuck off. That would have been two weeks ago. They barely saw each other after that incident, and Shane made sure of that. But he hated himself for it at the same time. He liked Ruby for her honesty about her troubled past and Shane felt as thought she might be the one person in town who actually understood what he was going through but didn’t want a pity party from her, so he figured telling her off was the better choice.

He watched her for a few moments as her flung her backpack over her shoulders and threw her hood over her head. While adjusting the straps of her bag, Ruby spotted Shane in the distance standing idle in place and looking towards her blankly. They made eye contact briefly before she turned her head away, but for the one second he met her gaze, Shane saw sadness behind her gorgeous grey eyes. Ruby then turned and began to head back towards the farm, leaving Shane standing alone in the pouring rain.

***

Ruby hadn’t seen Shane around much since he told her to leave him alone. It was bothering her for weeks, wondering what she did wrong. Her mind landed on the fact that maybe her admitting her drug problems was the culprit of his standoff attitude. And she didn’t blame him one bit. Who would want to be friends with a drug addict? She bowed her head to the ground and trudged back home.

“Ruby!” She heard from behind her, breaking her gaze at the ground. She stopped walking, swung around and to her amazement saw Shane running towards her, running through each puddle he passed, letting his pants become soaked from the water splashing up onto him. As he reached her, his pace slowed way to a walk. He stood in front of her panting and trying to catch his breath. He wasn’t even that far away from her when he started running, but from all the alcohol he consumed, she could tell he was completely out of shape.

“Listen,” He said through his deep breathes. “I wanted to apologize for what happened at the saloon. You didn’t deserve how I spoke to you. I just think that you have enough going on in your life that you don’t need someone like me hanging around who can fuck it all up for you. I know you were just trying to be friendly, but believe me, I don’t deserve your kindness. I know what everyone around town thinks of me, I’ve heard it all before. I’m the town drunk and asshole supreme.” He said the last part with a small chuckle, but Ruby didn’t find any of it funny. She balled her hands into fists and placed them onto each of her hips.

“Why does everyone feel like they can tell me who I should or shouldn’t hang around with? It’s my fucking life and it’s my decision!” She was full on screaming at this point, which kind of scared Shane. For someone so small, she had a good set of lungs. “You might be the town drunk, but I’m the town druggie remember?” She sighed loudly as she started to calm down. “Look Shane, you were the first person I met in this town and I actually liked talking with you. I felt comfortable and felt like I was around someone who might understand what I’m going through just a little bit. But if you don’t think we can be friends, then that’s fine by me.” Ruby turned back towards the farm and started walking. Shane looked up at her as she walked, feeling even worse about how he snuffed her off. He ran after her again and joined up next to you as she walked.

“Can I walk you home?” He asked. Ruby didn’t say anything, only nodded her head. The two walked down the dirt path to the farm and said nothing to each other. Ten of the longest minutes of just pure silence before they reached farm. Once they reached the farm, Ruby expected Shane is just start heading south back to the ranch, but he didn’t. Shane walked with her right up to the porch steps, where he eventually stopped. Ruby reached the top of the steps and turned around to face him.

“Thanks. For walking me home.” She said softly.

“No problem. Guess I’ll see you later then,” He responded as Garrett made his way outside onto the porch. Garrett looked at Ruby before looking at a very soaked Shane. “Oh hey Garrett. I was just walking Ruby home. See you later.” Shane turned and walked away but was stopped when Garrett called out to him.

“Hey, Shane. Want to come inside for a beer?” He asked, which surprised both Ruby and Shane. It even surprised Garrett that he extended the invitation. Shane thought for a moment, thinking why Garrett was even offering him anything. But then he nodded slowly before walking back to the house, clearly forgetting his plans to go straight home, but he sure liked the idea of a free beer.

All three walked inside and removed their dirty wet shoes. Shane stood awkwardly by the front door on the mat so he wouldn’t get the hardwood floor dirty while Garrett went to the fridge and grabbed two beers. Ruby looked back at him before she disappeared upstairs to change into drier clothes. Shane wished he had that option, staring down at his drenched pants and hoodie. His pants were completely covered in either rain water or mud from his run.

Garrett walked back to Shane and handed him a bottle of a more expensive beer. Shane admired the bottle for a few moments, knowing he’d never tried this kind before since he couldn’t afford it. He took his first swig and the cold dark amber liquid slid down his throat. It was the best beer he’d ever had. Garrett took is first sip while pointing at Shane’s clothes.

“Do you want something a little drier to wear, man?” Shane was again surprised by Garrett’s generosity. Why the hell was Garrett in such a giving mood today, Shane wondered. Shane then cleared his throat and shook his head. “Come on Shane, you’re going to be sick if you hang around in those. I can even throw them in the dryer, so they’re dry when you’re ready to leave.” Garrett threw Shane a genuine smile.

“Sure, thanks Garrett.” And Shane’s acceptance, Garrett disappeared into his room to find something for Shane to wear. It wouldn’t be a hard task since they were roughly the same weight and build. While Garrett was looking for some clothes, Ruby crept back downstairs to join the guys. Shane looked over at her as she appeared, now wearing tight black yoga shorts and a white spaghetti strap tank top. Her hair was wrapped in a towel as it was still soaking wet from the heavy rain. Shane tried to stop his eyes from wandering but he couldn’t help himself. He slowly moved his eyes down her body, admiring her figure through the tight clothing. He stopped at the sight on her bare legs, remarking how soft and creamy her skin looked.

“Where did my brother go?” She asked while looking around, breaking Shane’s inappropriate gaze from her bare legs.

“Went to his room, trying to find me something dry to wear.” He spoke under his breath while he took another long gulp of his beer. And just as he finished his drink, Garrett appeared from his bedroom with a pair of grey sweatpants and a plain black t shirt. He handed them over to Shane and pointed him towards the bathroom.

“You can change in there man.” Shane nodded as a thanks as he placed his beer down on the nearby kitchen table and disappeared into the bathroom, leaving a small trail of water behind him as we walked, which Garrett immediately wiped up with a towel from the kitchen. Garrett then walked over to Ruby, who was standing in front of the open fridge.

“Why are you being so nice to him?” Ruby whispered under the breath. Garrett shrugged.

“What, I’m not allowed to be hospitable towards our neighbors?” He winked, making Ruby roll her eyes and sigh with irritation. “What’s wrong? I thought you two were friends or something?” He remarked.

“More like acquaintances. Haven’t exactly talked to him since the night I moved here. I tried talking to him at the Saloon one night, but he didn’t really feel like talking.” Her tone seemed harsh, and Garrett definitely noticed.

“Did he say something to you to piss you off?” He asked, jumping into protective brother mode. But just as Garrett questioned his sister, they heard the bathroom door open and out walked Shane, wearing the dry clothes and holding onto his wet ones. Garrett ran back over to him and grabbed the pile of wet clothes.

“I’ll go throw these into the dryer, should take about an hour to dry.” Shane’s eyes grew slightly wider when Garrett said how long it would take. He’d be stuck with his neighbors that he didn’t know at all for one whole hour. The thought made him queasy. He never talked to Garrett, only the occasional head nod to one another, but nothing more than that. And then there was Ruby; the girl he had told off at the bar who hadn’t talked to him since. But how bad could it be, he wondered. They were being good host after all with the free beer and dry clothes after all. Garrett then ran off to the basement where the laundry room was located just beyond the cellar, leaving Ruby and Shane alone again.

“Want to sit down in the living room?” Ruby offered with a shaky tone. She was nervous. And Shane noticed. Why was she so nervous, he wondered. It’s not like she was attracted to him or anything he assumed. Shane hadn’t been in a relationship let alone involved with a woman in a very long time, since he was in high school, and before the drinking became a real problem. Sure, Jas’ parents tried setting him up with women on more than one occasion, but he was just never interested. He had almost forgotten what it was like to be with a woman.

He cleared his throat. “Sure.” And together, they walked over to the living room. Shane looked around the home as approached the living room at all the family photos of Garrett, Ruby and their parents. Shane especially noticed the photos of Ruby, who looked entirely different than she did now standing in front of him. She looked healthier and happier.

Once in the living room, Shane spotted a larger family photo over top of the fireplace and his eyes went directly to Ruby. She looked breathtaking. Her hair was longer and a light shade of baby pink, her face was covered in make up, and her smile was beautiful. Ruby turned to face him when they entered the room and caught him looking at the photo. She frowned.

“I was 18 in that photo. I look so different. I look happy,” Shane moved his gaze to meet Ruby’s. “That was before I fucked up my life. I look like a normal human being in that photo. I wish all the time I was still that person.” Shane noted the sadness in her eyes, and the tears forming. He started to become uncomfortable as Garrett reappeared in the room holding another two bottles of beer. Ruby removed her eyes from Shane and looked down at the ground.

“I’ll be right back.” She said softly as she darted out of the room and upstairs to her room. Garrett and Shane watched as she left and could hear her begin crying as she disappeared, followed by a loud slam of her bedroom door. Garrett sighed loudly and began rubbing the back of his neck as he sat down at the couch. Shane followed and sat down on the couch across from Garrett while he grabbed another bottle of beer off the coffee table.

“Is she okay?” Shane asked Garrett, causing him to bite his lip. Garrett knew Ruby was struggling to cope with her recovery. She was still experiencing withdrawals, which made Garrett often wonder if she was actually telling the truth about how long she had gone without using. Since arriving at the farm, she was tired all the time, constantly complained of pain throughout her body, and had nightmares almost every night. He knew her current medication was helping with her depression and anxiety, but it wasn’t completely solving the problem. He was so worried about his sister. “She told me about her drug addiction.” Shane said softly. Garrett threw a surprised look over to Shane. He couldn’t believe his sister told a complete stranger about her problem. Garrett began shaking his head.

“It’s been a hell of a year for her. She’s doing a lot better lately, but I’m still worried about her,” Garrett said with gently tone to his voice. “When she came home after talking to you the first night she moved here and I saw the bottle of whiskey, I got so mad. She isn’t supposed to be drinking because of her medication. Also, whenever she drinks, her craving for cocaine increases. She said she’s fine with me having alcohol in the house but I’m not buying anymore after the beer in my fridge is gone. I even keep the cellar door locked, just in case. I even told Gus and Emily not to serve her alcohol at the Saloon. How shitty is that, that I don’t trust my own sister?”

Shane looked down at the beer bottle in his hand and stared at it, peeling the label off while his gut started to feel almost guilty. The substance he held in his hand was like the elixir of life to him, like water to fuel his body. But it could also be potentially deadly to Ruby. He knew at that point that they definitely couldn’t be friends. Or even be around each other, which made Shane feel almost disappointed and he couldn’t understand why. He didn’t even know Ruby, so why the hell did he care so much? While Shane was lost in his thoughts, Garrett threw back the remains of the beer in his bottle and slammed the bottle down on the table, making a loud noise. Shane jump slightly from the noise and broke him from his thoughts. Garrett let out a defeated sigh.

“Sorry to overload you with that information, man. I know you just met her and everything, so that wasn’t fair for me to do to her.” Garrett rested his face into his hands and rubbed his face vigorously. Shane cleared his throat, like he wanted to say something. But as he opened his mouth, Ruby reappeared in the living room, her hair now out of the towel lying wet against her skin. Her eyes were red and puffy, to signal she was crying, and her nose was red from it constantly running from when she was breaking down. She moved across the room and took a seat next to her brother. And to Shane’s surprise, she was smiling.

“You telling Shane all about my fucked up life and how paranoid you are about me overdosing and dying?” Ruby spoke while elbowing her brother in the arm. Garrett shot his head up from his hands and looked at his sister with pure rage. His face began turning crimson red as he stood up over top of Ruby.

“What the hell is your problem Ruby? You act like this is all a joke!” Garrett was yelling at this point. “You were so close to death; it’s clearly not fucking funny. If you weren’t found when you were, you wouldn’t be sitting on this couch right now acting like a sarcastic little shit. Do you not get that?!” Shane felt so uncomfortable and like he was witnessing something he shouldn’t be witnessing. He stood up and placed his empty beer bottle down on the table, along with the bits of label he picked off.

“I’m going to get going. Thanks for the dry clothes. See you later.” And just like that, Shane walked briskly for the front door. He put on his shoes and left as fast as he could, completely forgetting about his work uniform in that moment. But that was too much for him to handle, especially with how sober he was. He wasn’t friends with Garrett or Ruby, yet there he was, in the middle of their family drama.

Ruby shot up from her seat as the door closed behind Shane and she glared up at Garrett. “What the fuck Garrett?! I was trying to lighten to mood in the room, not start a full on war with you. You were making the guy so uncomfortable; I could feel it from upstairs! Yoba, you keep acting like I’m some fragile little girl that will break at any moment, but I’m not! So just let it go!” Ruby stormed off before Garrett could even get a word in and ran upstairs to her room, slamming the door behind her. Garrett let out a frustrated groan before cleaning up the beer bottles from the coffee table and throwing them out in the recycling bin outside. Garrett hated when he and Ruby fought, which didn’t happen very often. But even since she got out of the hospital, she was more on edge and her temper was through the roof. They were fighting almost daily, but they were usually small fights about nothing. But he was genuinely pissed this time. Did she even care about her life and getting better? He didn’t know but he wasn’t going to let this fight carry into the next day. Garrett made his way upstairs and to the closed door to Ruby’s room. He knocked lightly and slowly opened the door to see her lying on her bed with her head resting on a pillow and her cellphone in her hand. He walked over and sat on the edge of the bed beside her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

“I’m sorry Ruby. I shouldn’t have been talking to him or anyone about you and what’s going on. That wasn’t fair of me. But if you’re going to be friends with the guy, he should know what you’re going through. You need to be honest with him and anyone else you befriend here. Don’t be ashamed of yourself, you’ve been doing amazing since you left the hospital! You completed your therapy and counselling, and you’re taking your medication. Sure, you’ve had a few slip ups with the drinking but that’s nothing you can’t handle. I’m so proud of you.” Garrett smiled while he pat his sister’s shoulder, but she didn’t look at him. She just continued looking at her phone screen. Garrett let out a sigh and stood up from the bed, making his way out of her room. When he heard a small noise from behind him, like something falling onto the floor.

He turned around to see Ruby now sitting up on the side of the bed with tears falling from her eyes. He looked down at the object on the floor and his eyes went wide with fear. It was a small bag of white powder sitting on the floor between the two of them.

“Don’t be proud of me. I’ve been lying to you since I got here. I’ve been using for the past few weeks,” She could barely get her words out through her breaths. “I tried to stop, I really did. But I just couldn't handle all the new stress of moving and trying to become a better person. I'm so sorry, Garrett. But that is the last of my stash, I promise. Please flush it. Search my room if you have to, I insist. I just want to be done with it; I just want to be better!” She screamed. But Garrett didn’t move. He just stared at his sister’s shaking body as she cried into her hands.

He wasn’t mad. He was disappointed. But not at her, but at himself. He should have checked her belongings when she first arrived, knowing the possibility of her still having some in possession. He broke his gaze from her and walked towards the small bag of cocaine on the floor. He picked it up and disappeared from her room to flush the remains of her stash down the toilet. He walked back inside her room, took a seat next to her and pulled his sister in for a hug.

“Please don’t send me away, Garrett. I want to stay here with you. I promise, I’m done with it. Please let me stay.” She whispered into his shoulder, causing Garrett’s eyes to water. He tightened the grip around Ruby, trying to make her feel safe.

“I’m not going to send you back to the city, Ruby. You’re much safer here in the valley. But I think you need to attend some more therapy. I’ll ask Doctor Harvey if he can recommend someone closer to Pelican Town, maybe someone in a neighboring town so we don’t have to go back to the city. We will figure this out together, I promise.” He said while caressing her back with his hand. Her sobbing died down and turned into a light cry as he coaxed her down. She was beginning to feel better after confessing to her brother, but knew she had a long way to go.

***

Shane walked quickly through the Parker’s farm field, not turning back to see if anyone was following him. He sighed loudly when he realized he had left his uniform back at Ruby and Garrett’s place, dreading the thought that he would eventually have to go back and retrieve it.

He felt incredibly awkward and uncomfortable with how he just left their house but at the same time, the conversation with Garrett and the argument between Ruby and Garrett made him even more uncomfortable. He had barely said two words to Garrett in the five years he lived in Pelican Town, so he was so confused as to why Garrett decided to confide in him of all people about Ruby. Was it because he thought Shane could relate to her problem, or was he just looking for someone to talk to? Shane didn’t know and honestly didn’t care.

“Where have you been?!” Shane’s thoughts were disrupted by the cry from his aunt, who he saw standing outside their home stomping her foot with her arms crossed. He had completely forgotten about Marnie’s plans with Lewis and how he was supposed to watch Jas. She was now over an hour late for her “meeting” and she was pissed. “You know my meetings with Mayor Lewis are important, Shane. All I ask of you is to be home on time when I need you.” All Shane did was roll his eyes as he passed Marnie. He didn’t want to hear about her important meetings because he was pretty sure fucking the mayor wasn’t a top priority. She didn’t say anything else to him as she was already late. Marnie took off in a light sprint down the pathway into town.

“Uncle Shane!” Inside Shane was greeted by his goddaughter, who was beyond excited she got to spend the night with her uncle. Jas was only seven years old, so she had an insane amount of energy that Shane only wished he still had. As she was running towards him, her pigtails bounced with her as she got closer. She wrapped her tiny arms around his waist and began swinging back and forth, causing Shane to chuckle under his breath. “Where is your work clothes?” She asked, making Shane look down at himself.

“Hey kiddo, I left my uniform at work. So, what do you want to do tonight?” He asked quickly to change the subject, which she thankfully didn’t seem to notice. Jas took off for her bedroom while Shane grabbed a glass of water. He didn’t like drinking around Jas, so he tried his best to keep it that way. As he took his first sip of cold water, Jas reappeared holding a basket full of dolls and stuffed animals. She had the biggest grin smeared across her face while she bounced on the spot. Did Marnie feed her a bowl full of sugar before Shane got home? She seemed more giddy than she normally was. She grabbed onto Shane’s arm and began pulling him into the living room.

“I want to play house while we watch cartoons!” She shouted while throwing the basket to the ground and grabbing the TV remote. Shane nodded his head and crouched down to the ground, feeling his muscles ache in the process. He was feeling quite old lately. Jas picked her favorite cartoon and joined him on the floor. Jas handed him the male dolls and a teddy bear Shane gave her for last year’s Feast of the Winter Star.

“Okay kiddo, it is 8:30 now. We can play until 9:30, then it’s bedtime.” Shane’s words made Jas sulk. She knew they would have had more time to play if Shane had gotten home on time, making Shane regret going to Ruby’s even more. The two began playing with the dolls, with Jas playing as the mommy doll, and Shane as the daddy doll. He even did fake voices when he switched to the teddy bear, giving him a funny voice. They enjoyed playing together so much that they completed missed when the clock went past 9:30, reaching almost 10:00 when Shane finally noticed.

“Oh shit – I mean shoot, it’s past your bedtime.” Jas groaned loudly, hoping Shane had forgotten about bedtime. But she didn’t argue because she knew she wouldn’t win. Together, they picked up the toys and straightened up the living room. Once they were done, Jas went and got ready for bed. While Jas got into her pajamas and brushed her teeth, Shane went to the kitchen for another glass of water, hating the taste of it every time he took a sip. But he knew beer was in his future. Jas reappeared dressed in her purple princess pajamas.

“I’m all ready! Can you tuck me in, Uncle Shane?” She asked with her big green puppy dog eyes. Shane threw her a smile and ran at her, picking her up and throwing her over his shoulder. She let out a loud yelp and began giggling uncontrollably.

“Put me down Uncle Shane!” Jas screamed through her laughs. Inside her bedroom, with Jas still in his arms, Shane pulled back her comforter and put her down. He pulled the bedsheet back up and tucked it around her small body. He handed Jas her favorite teddy bear and kissed her softly on the forehead.

“Good night, kiddo. I had fun tonight.” He actually did. He couldn’t remember the last time he spent a night with Jas and actually had a good time. Normally she would play by herself in her room while he drank his beer and played video games in his room. She smiled back as big as she could.

“Me too! Can we play together again soon?” Shane nodded and kissed her forehead again.

“We will. Promise. Now get some sleep.” Shane said softly while rising to his feet and turning out the lights. Jas rolled over onto her side and closed her eyes. She would be asleep within minutes Shane knew. That kid could sleep like a rock. Shane closed her bedroom door slowly and quietly, so he didn’t disturb her. As the door shut, Shane heard a knock on the front door. Shane sighed with frustration.

“Aunt Marnie forgot her keys again,” He muttered to himself and walked towards the front door and swung it open. “Seriously Aunt Marn –.” But it wasn’t Marnie. There stood Ruby holding Shane’s neatly folded uniform he had left at her house. Shane didn’t expect to see her standing there, and he didn’t know what so say to her. But thankfully for him, Ruby spoke first.

“Hey Shane, you forgot your clothes at my house, so I wanted to bring them by,” She reached her arms out and handed Shane his belongings. When he grabbed for them, their fingers grazed one another’s, which made both of them jump. Ruby cleared her throat and looked down. “I also wanted to apologize for what happened. That was super embarrassing, and I don’t blame you for leaving like you did. And I’m sorry that you got in the middle of my bullshit. Anyways I’ll see you later.” Ruby turned around to leave before Shane could say anything. But he did have something to say.

“Are you okay?” He asked, forcing Ruby to turn back around. Apparently he did care more than he thought he did. Ruby’s eyes began to water while she stared into his eyes. She shook her head lightly to each side and looked down at her feet.

“I’ve been hiding cocaine from my brother and have been using since I got into town,” Shane’s eyes went wide at Ruby’s confession, he wasn’t expecting that. “But I surrendered the last of my stash to Garrett and he’s going to talk to Harvey about getting me some professional help,” She wiped her eyes of her tears and looked back into Shane’s eyes. “Maybe everyone was right about us not being friends. I shouldn’t be friends with anyone with how fucked up I am. I would just fuck up their lives along with mine.,” She let out of loud sigh. “Sometimes I just feel like no matter what I do in life, I’m just going to end up –.”

“Failing,” Shane said quietly, finishing Ruby’s sentence. He knew exactly how she was feeling. “Like you’re stuck in some miserable abyss and you’re so deep you can’t even see the light of day?” Ruby’s eyes grew bigger with Shane’s words.

“That is exactly how I feel. And I just feel like no matter how hard I try; I’ll never be strong enough to climb out of that hole.” She replied. Ruby didn’t realize that Shane felt the same way as her with his life. His alcohol consumption must have been worse than she thought. Shane and Ruby stared into each other’s eyes for what seemed like forever, finally understanding how the other one felt, and it made them both feel more at ease.

“Ruby, I’m an alcoholic. I have been for a long time. That’s why I didn’t think it would be wise for us to be friends. I didn’t want to make your recovery harder than it already must be,” He confessed, which made Ruby frown. He was addicted to alcohol just as she was addicted to cocaine. “I never thought I’d find someone in this small town who knew how I was feeling. Except for Pam, but I don’t’ want to get into that.” He chuckled to himself, even thought he knew this situation was far from funny.

“Maybe we can help each other. If you want. I’m sure we could both use the support of another person going through the same withdrawals as ourselves.” Ruby said softly, not wanting to sound like she was intruding on his personal life. But she thought maybe both of them would benefit from helping one another through their withdrawals and temptations. But she quickly thought that maybe she was overstepping. She didn’t know Shane or if he even wanted help. “Sorry, that was not my place to say It’s none of my business.” She muttered under her breath, not wanting to upset him. But to her shock, Shane nodded his head.

“No, you’re not, Ruby. You’re right, maybe we can help each other out with this. I can’t keep living this way. I need to be here for Jas and take care of her. I’ve been a fucking shitty godfather to her. Maybe if I have some actual help and someone who actually understands what I’m going through, I can actually beat this,” A giant gust of wind came out of no where and blew between the two of them, sending shivers down their spines. Both of them completely forgot they were standing around in the middle of the night. “Do you want to come inside and finish our conversation?” Shane asked and Ruby graciously accepted. Together, they made their way inside the ranch and Ruby took a seat at the kitchen table. Shane grabbed both of them a glass of water before joining her.

“What made you want to get help all of a sudden? You literally were just having a couple of beers with Garrett a couple hours ago.” Ruby asked as soon as he sat down. From the last few times she saw Shane, drinking seemed to be his favorite activity. And now all of a sudden, he was ready to just give it up. Shane sighed and cleared his throat.

“I know I was but seeing how upset Garrett got when he was talking about you made me think about Marnie and Jas. Your brother really cares about you, you know. And hearing about you almost dying from your abuse made me remember back to when I almost died over by the cliffs,” Ruby chocked on her water as Shane confessed to his own close call with death. “About a year ago, I was sitting on the edge of the cliffs, drinking of course and contemplated ending it all. I used to go there all the time and just look down, thinking it was a chance to finally take control of my life, by ending it once and for all. But before anything could happen, my aunt found me lying face down in a puddle of my own vomit and took me to Harvey’s. He had to pump my stomach and prescribed me antidepressants. He wanted me to attend therapy, but I refused. I was still in denial about my drinking being that bad. After that, my drinking habits continued, and it just kept getting worse.” He looked down into his glass of water and frowned. He was embarrassed with himself, thought he was completely worthless, and that Marnie and Jas deserved someone better than him.

While looking down, Ruby reached over and placed her hand onto of Shane’s hand, startling him from his negative thoughts. Her touch was cool and warm at the same time and made Shane’s heart flutter. He looked up into her eyes again to see her smiling at him.

“Your family needs you here, Shane. They care about you and want you around for a long time. This is just a rough patch, for both of us. And I think with some hard work, we can kick our vices in the ass and to the curb.” Shane’s frown turned into a small smile, feeling as though her optimism was rubbing off on him.

Just as Shane started to speak, the front door of the house flew open, forcing Ruby to remove her hand from Shane’s, leaving him with missing her touch. In walked Marnie with her hair all disheveled and her make up a mess. Shane rolled his eyes at his aunt’s appearance. Marnie looked into the kitchen and was stunned when she made eye contact with both Ruby and Shane, wondering what she was walking in on.

“Oh, I’m so sorry to interrupt” She threw a smile at Ruby and walked towards her. “Hello dear, I’m Marnie. You must be Garrett’s sister Ruby.” The two women shook hands while Ruby smiled nervously at the older woman standing in front of her.

“Hello ma’am. Yes I’m Ruby. Lovely to meet you,” Ruby stood to her feet and glanced at the time flashing on the microwave in the kitchen. “Oh wow. I didn’t realize how late it was. Garrett is probably losing his mind wondering why I’m not home yet. I better get going. Have a good night Shane. Good night Marnie.” Shane nodded his head and watched as Ruby walked towards the door. Marnie smacked Shane in the back of the head, causing him to whip his head around and glare at her.

“What was that for?!” He snapped, making Marnie point towards the front door.

“Walk her home.” She whispered with a harsh tone. Shane rolled his eyes and marched after Ruby. He flung the front door open and took off.

“Ruby, wait up!” Shane yelled as the front door closed behind him. Marnie smiled with a bit a cockiness, happy to see Shane having a conversation with someone for a change. And a beautiful woman to top it off.

Outside, Ruby and Shane walked together slowly, almost as though they were trying to spend a little more time together. The air was especially cool for a summer night, and Ruby was not dressed for the chilly air. She began to shiver, and Shane noticed. She was still wearing her black shorts and white tank top, which Shane liked seeing her in, but knew she was freezing. He unzipped his sweater and passed it to her.

“Here. So you don’t catch a cold.” He said under his breath while he nudged her his sweater. Ruby’s cheeks were turning pink, but not from the cold air.

“Thanks,” She said softly with a smile while she grabbed the sweater from his hand and put it on. It was a little big on her, since she was shorter and skinnier than Shane, but it was warm and smelled like a mixture of beer of course, but also Shane’s natural smell which made her weak in the knees. Damn, he smelled good. The sweater covered her entire upper body but also her thighs and she immediately warmed up. She glanced over at Shane who was now only wearing a t-shirt on his upper half and was beginning to shiver. “Shane, now you’re cold. Take your sweater back. We’re almost at my place anyways.” Ruby unzipped her sweater, but Shane shook his head.

“Ruby, it’s fine. Just wear the damn sweater.” He grunted in protest. 

The rest of the walk back to her house was quiet and it wasn’t long before they reached the porch. Ruby stood on the first step of the porch stairs while Shane stood on the ground in front of her. Ruby unzipped Shane’s sweater and handed it back to him. He couldn’t help but look at her creamy skin again, as though it was his first time seeing it. Shane fought with his eyes to not make contact with her breasts. He rubbed the back of his head while clearing his throat.

“Well, good night Ruby.” He said quietly as he zipped up his sweater, noticing it now smelled like coconut shampoo and Ruby’s perfume. As Shane looked back up to Ruby, he was met with a kiss from Ruby on his cheek. His face immediately went hot. Thankfully, the lack of light was hiding the fact his face was a bright shade of red. She moved her mouth away from his cheek and met his eyes again, wearing a smile. She looked so incredibly beautiful, Shane thought silently to himself.

“Good night, Shane. And remember, we’re going to get through this shit together.” She whispered as she whipped around and disappeared into her house. Shane stood stunned for a moment before retreating back to the ranch. Once out of sight from the farm, he reached a hand to his cheek, where Ruby had kissed him, and he smiled. He could still feel her lips on his skin, and he hoped that feeling would never go away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading. :)


	4. The City

_Ruby had gone to bed early the night before, wanting to get a good night’s sleep for her next day of the farm. Ruby had been feeling like everything was finally falling into place since talking with Shane and was immediately feeling more positive ever since. She found herself completely fast asleep within minutes of her head hitting the pillow, and her head was empty of nightmares for the first time in a long time. The rest of the house was dark and silent with only the small sound of wind blowing outside. It was a calm and peaceful night in Pelican Town._

_Around 2:30 in the morning, Ruby rolled from one side to the other while still fast asleep and was facing her bedroom door. But Ruby’s eyes flew open when she heard a creaking sound from the floorboards and felt the energy of the room shift, almost as though someone else was in there with her. She sat up from her bed and stood to her feet. Her vision was blurry from being half awake, but still proceeded to walk towards her closet. Before her vision could become completely clear, a dark shadowy figure jumped out of the closet at Ruby, grabbed a hold of her neck, pushed her body against the wall and began punching her repeatedly in the face. In between the hits, she finally saw who it was and to her horror, it was Connor._

_“Thought you could get away from me that easily, you fucking bitch?!” Connor yelled while his fist flew at Ruby’s already bruised face, breaking through the skin of her lip and causing blood to start gushing from the wound. He had found her on the farm in Stardew Valley. She didn’t know how he did, but he managed to locate her. He had busted through the front door with one swift kick and found Ruby sleeping peacefully upstairs in her bedroom. He snuck inside while she slept and hid in her closet._

_Ruby was being held up by her neck against the wall while her feet dangled beneath her, with Connor’s hand gripping her tightly with no remorse. His jagged, dirty fingernails dug deeper and deeper into her skin, leaving small lesions. Where the hell was Garrett in all the commotion, she wondered. How could he not hear Ruby’s struggle to stay alive?_

_“Connor, let me go.” She said roughly while struggling to breathe, but he refused her request. Connor just continued to tighten his death grip until Ruby could feel herself drifting out of consciousness. She closed her eyes and felt her breathes weaken to the point of stopping, and she heard was a faint whisper from her abusive attacker before completely passing out._

_“Just wait until I actually get my hands on you. Because when I do, I’m going to fucking kill you, your brother.” The sound of his cackle faded slowly._

“NO!” Ruby screamed as she abruptly awoke, lunging her upper body up from her mattress. Her heart was racing, she was drenched in sweat and she was short of breath, quickly bringing on a panic attack. She rapidly reached for her neck, the feeling of someone still holding onto her. But to her relief, she felt no one holding on to her. She could breathe normal again. Once her vision became clear again, Ruby’s eyes darted to either side of the room. She jumped out of bed and walked slowly towards her closet and pulled all of her clothes off of their hangers to see if anyone was hiding behind her wardrobe. There was no one. She was alone. It had all been a terrible nightmare.

While gripping onto some of her clothes, her bedroom door flew open, starling her. Thankfully, it was Garrett. Expecting her brother to look at her with confusion and misunderstanding, she was greeted with a look of worry and panic from Garret. He had heard her scream from downstairs, knew immediately what was going on and bolted upstairs to his sister’s aid. He walked towards her and brought her in for a hug, causing her to drop her handfuls of clothing. Ruby grabbed a hold of him and squeezed him tightly, feeling safe again.

“You had another nightmare about him, didn’t you?” He whispered. Garrett sighed loudly when Ruby nodded her head into his chest. She had been having nightmares almost every night since her confession of still using, and she was going through her withdrawal period. Garrett hated that he couldn’t do anything for Ruby but was thankful for the help she was going to be receiving from her new therapist. He just wished she didn’t have to go all the way to Zuzu City for it, but he was still grateful.

Garrett glanced at the time from his wristwatch, noting it was already 7:17 in the morning. He loosened his hug around Ruby. “It’s almost time to leave for your first appointment. I’ll leave you to get ready.” He said while kissing her forehead before leaving her to get ready for the long day ahead. Ruby then made her way to her bathroom and hopped into the shower.

***

The few weeks that followed Ruby’s confession of still using cocaine and Shane’s decision to spontaneously quit drinking were pretty rough. Ruby went through her withdrawals all over again; she was constantly tired, her appetite was insane, and her nightmares were far worse than they had ever been before. She was always in pain from her muscle aches and nerve pain, even though she wasn’t doing any farm work, and constantly in a bad mood.

Garrett knew this was what she would be going through, since it wasn’t her first time experiencing the withdrawals, but it was still hard for him to watch. For the first few days, Garrett didn’t take his eyes off Ruby, and barely got any work done on the farm. He just wanted to make sure she was okay and didn’t attempt anything damaging on her life. Unfortunately, one of the biggest side effects to cocaine withdrawal in the first 24 hours is suicidal thoughts and tendencies, so he stayed close by.

While Ruby was going through her own brand of hell, Shane was experiencing his own.

Shane had made the decision to quit cold turkey the night he and Ruby talked about their issues, which surprised both himself and Marnie. Even though she was beyond thrilled to see Shane quitting the booze and improve his quality of life, she was completely worried for his mental health. During the first few days, Shane was insanely sick; experiencing vomiting, insomnia and severe anxiety on top of the depression he had already suffered from. When he tried sleeping at night, his body would break into awful cold sweats and his head would feel like it was going to explode, and no amount of medication would cure such things for him. Shane had heard of the side effects from quitting drinking, but it turned out to be so much worse than he thought. He began to wonder if he was making the right decision or if it was even worth it.

Jas was not allowed to bother Shane during the first few days of his sudden sobriety, since he was even more moody than he normally was; losing his temper with Marnie over the smallest things and even smashing a plate against the wall of his bedroom, which scared Jas and caused her to lock herself in her room. Marnie had to reassure the young child that this was only temporary, and that her Uncle Shane would be back to normal soon. Marnie simply told Jas that Shane was really sick and needed time to feel better. Feeling like she could help her Uncle get better, Jas gave Marnie her favorite stuffed animal, a purple teddy bear, to give to Shane. He kept the bear close to him on his nightstand as a reminder for why he was going through this; it was for Jas.

Marnie was incredibly patient during this time, knowing very well it wouldn’t last long and knew Shane wasn’t completely in the right frame of mind. She stayed home during the worst of it, cancelling all of her appointments with Mayor Lewis to be by her Nephew’s side. Shane didn’t even go to work during the first week, which angered Morris of course since he didn’t give a shit about Shane’s health. But the man was quickly put into his place when an angry and protective Marnie snapped at him, which put the fear in Morris. He never called to bother Shane again until he was feeling better.

Once the worst of their withdrawals were finally over, Ruby and Shane went to speak with Harvey about finding a therapist. Unfortunately, Harvey couldn’t find anyone in the neighboring towns that could take them on as new patients. He could only find a therapist in Zuzu City by the name of Doctor Robert, but he assured the both of them that he was the best with tackling additions. After much consideration and convincing from Garrett, Ruby finally agreed to travel to Zuzu to see the doctor Harvey suggested, but was very uncomfortable with going back to Zuzu City so soon after leaving.

She felt safe of course, after not hearing anything from Connor or any of his friends. But her nightmares kept a constant fear in the back of her mind that he would eventually find her. Going into the city and seeing the same therapist as Shane definitely made Ruby feel more at ease, and more safe with a companion. They were able to schedule their appointments on the same days as each other, making them one right after the other. This way they could travel to the city together and she wouldn’t be alone. Also, it just made more sense for them to travel in one car versus taking two separate vehicles. She was extremely grateful for the Doctor’s flexibility to fit her anxious needs.

***

Ruby finished towel drying her hair and began getting dressed for hers and Shane’s very first appointments with Doctor Robert. She was just zipping up her shorts when she heard a loud knock on the door. She glanced over at the red numbers of her digital clock from her bedside table; 8:07. Her appointment was scheduled for 9:30 and the drive into the middle of the city would take around an hour. So her and Shane decided to leave for around 8:00 to ensure they had enough time to locate the place and find parking.

Ruby walked up to her mirror, gave herself a quick lookover and let of a long frustrated sigh. The large dark circles under her eyes indicated the lack of sleep she had been getting and her even more than usual pale complexion showed how sick she had been feeling. Her skinny figure was looking more plump as of late, although she was still very petite. Her appetite was through the roof; a rough side effect from the withdrawal that she hated. But at least the majority of her weight gain seemed to only hit her hips and ass, making her figure a little more voluptuous like it was before she decided to totally abuse her body. With one last look, Ruby shrugged her shoulders and ran off downstairs. 

Garrett was sitting at the kitchen table enjoying a cup of coffee but stood up to answer the door. Ruby hit the bottom step as she saw her brother stand up. She rushed over to his side.

“Don’t worry Garrett, I got it.” He simply nodded and pulled her in for a hug.

“Good luck today Ruby. And call me if anything happens or if you just simply need to talk. Be safe and I’ll see you later on tonight. We’ll have your favorite for dinner; fish tacos with pepper poppers on the side.” Ruby smiled up at Garrett as she loosened herself from his hug.

“Thanks, Garrett. It sounds delicious. So, you got any big plans for today or are you just going to hang around the house and get some work done?” She asked.

“I’m going to finish up some things around the house and then head down to the beach around noon. Alex and I are going to throw the gridball around and shoot the shit,” Ruby was about to respond but was interrupted by another knock on the door. “You should get going or you’ll be late for your appointment. We’ll catch up tonight. Drive safe.” Always acting like the protective brother. Garrett sat back down at the kitchen table as Ruby opened the front door to find Shane standing there, who was looking particularly nervous.

Shane and Ruby hadn’t really spent much time together since their meeting with Harvey, only spoken on the phone once to discuss what time they should leave for Zuzu City and sending the occasional texts to one another. To Ruby’s horror, Shane had looked exhausted and a sickly shade of green. Ruby had never seen him look so awful before. It was mainly from his alcohol withdrawal, but also from getting no sleep the night prior. He was extremely nervous about sitting in the car alone with Ruby for an hour into the city and had completely forgotten about the fact that he then had to speak with a complete stranger about his life and issues in the next hour and a half. He clearly needed to sort his priorities.

“Hey, Ruby.” He said quietly while he gave her a blank stare. Ruby gave him a soft smile while she noticed the large dark circles under his eyes, remembering that she wasn’t alone in this whole thing. Shane was going through exactly what she was and somehow, it brought her comfort. Realizing he was still staring at her, Shane immediately looked away and ran his hand through his slick black hair.

“Hey Shane. How are you feeling?” She asked while closing the front door behind her.

“Like I’ve been to hell and back,” He grumbled. “How are you feeling?”

“I’ve been better. Slept like shit last night,” She responded while the two of them walked down the porch steps and proceeded quickly towards her car. “We really need to get going or we’ll be late.” Shane nodded while opening the passenger side door to her small blue car.

Inside the car, Ruby passed Shane her iPod. “You can pick the music for our drive if you want.” He gave her a nod while he began scrolling through her music selection. To his surprise, her music taste wasn’t too bad and they actually both listened to some of the same artists. He picked an edgier sounding song as the two of the left the farm property and turned down the side road for the highway. The trip into the city would end up being a quiet one, minus the music playing the whole way there. Both of them were extremely nervous for their appointments and didn’t have much to say otherwise.

***

It was approaching noon by the time Garrett had finally finished up his work for the day. He had milked the cows, trimmed the sheep’s wool and fed all the animals which all took up the majority of the morning. He checked on his jellies and wines in the shed, making sure they were coming along perfectly. Even thought it was still months away, Garrett was already getting himself prepared for the upcoming Stardew Valley Fall Fair and was going to be damn sure he’d beat Pierre this year. The last four years he had lost to the shop owner and couldn’t seem to figure out how the hell he always won. But with some research he looked into at the library, Garrett was positive he’d snag the win this year. Pierre didn’t have any ancient fruit or the supplies to make his own wine or preservatives, and Garrett also had some sweet gem berries growing in his greenhouse as his secret weapon. He couldn’t wait for the fair to reach town. He was counting down the days on his calendar with anticipation, which made Ruby laugh.

Garrett put the last of his crops and goods into the collective box that he wasn’t interested in keeping and ran inside to change into his bathing suit. He was due to meet Alex at the beach and didn’t realize how late it was getting. He quickly undressed from his work clothes and slipped into his swim trunks, grabbed a beach towel and his backpack with his secret stash of beers and snacks before running out the door. Garrett didn’t bother putting on a shirt since the weather was scorching hot, he was going to the beach anyways and he felt comfortable in his own skin to walk around town half naked.

When Garrett had first moved to Stardew Valley, he was quite skinny with barely any muscle tone. And even though he quickly became friends with Alex, he always poked jokes at Garrett for being on the skinnier side and told him to look into building some muscle with Alex’s help. Garrett declined his offer and said he’d figure it out himself, which he did. After a few years of working every single day on the farm, Garrett’s skinny frame began to slowly turn into a more built physique. His muscles developed on his arms, back and of course his stomach, and even became more built than Alex. Standing 5 inches taller than his friend, Garrett looked like a body building God next to him. As impressed as Alex was with Garrett’s hard work and total transformation, he secretly envied his friend’s new physique.

Along with his new appearance, Garrett’s self esteem also improved, and became more confident with himself. Instead of skulking in the corner on the pool room with Sebastian, Sam and Abigail every Friday night, he started being more social with everyone around the bar. Even though he had already known the townspeople for years, he still didn’t know much about them. But with his new and improved confidence, he learned more about everyone in town. Minus one person in particular, Shane.

Garrett practically ran the entire way to the beach, so by the time he reached the sand he was sweating from head to toe. Once on the beach, he spotted Alex throwing a gridball to himself up in the air and catching it.

“Hey, man! Sorry I’m late, lost track of time.” Garrett yelled at he approached his friend, throwing his towel and backpack down to the ground. Alex spun around and threw the ball at Garrett, who proceeded the catch it flawlessly.

“No problem, Garrett. Figured you might be with running that whole damn farm by yourself. I told you if you need help just ask me. I can always find someone else to run the ice cream stand for me during the rest of the summer or until your sister is doing better. And speaking of your sister, when do I get to meet her?” He asked curiously. Ruby had already been living in town for a month and still hadn’t met Garrett’s best friend. Garrett laughed while throwing the ball back to Alex.

“You’ll meet her at the Luau next weekend. I just don’t want to overwhelm her during her first week in therapy. She’s had a shitty few weeks with her withdrawals and doesn’t really want to see anyone right now. But remember, don’t mention anything about her condition to her or anyone else. She’d be pissed if she knew I told you.” Garrett replied. Ruby told him to not tell anyone about what she was going through because of her embarrassment, but he had accidentally told Alex one night when they were hanging out at the beach. But Alex swore he wouldn’t repeat it to anyone. Also, Garrett never spilled the news about Shane and made sure to keep that one a secret. He didn’t want to cause any issues with Shane.

“I won’t say anything, don’t worry. But speaking of secrets, have you told Haley how you feel about her yet?” Alex asked with a stupid smirk on his face while Garrett’s face turned bright red. Garrett chucked the gridball hard at Alex, hitting him hard in the shoulder.

“No I haven’t yet and keep your fucking voice down,” No one else was on the beach with them. “I just don’t know how to tell her. It’s so stupid, I’ve been friends with her for years and I just don’t want to fuck up our friendship,” Alex started laughing wholeheartedly at Garrett’s all of a sudden shyness. He dropped the gridball to the ground as he grabbed on to his stomach, almost keeling over in the process. “Oh, you think that’s funny?” Garrett ran at Alex and tackled him to the ground and started giving him a noogie and wrestling him. The two men continued rolling around in the sand, laughing and yelling at each other like they were kids when Haley and Leah walked onto the beach. The two girls looked over at the men and began to giggle, which Alex and Garrett heard. They quickly stood up and straightened themselves out before smiling over to the girls.

“Speak of the devil.” Alex whispered.

“Not another damn word or I’ll tell Leah about how you feel about her.” Garrett responded with a devilish smile. Alex’s smile immediately vanished.

“Fine. I’ll shut up.” Alex was in the same place Garrett was, but he had feelings for Leah, and had ever since they were in high school, but she never noticed him or anyone for that matter. Leah hadn’t been interested in anyone in town, mainly losing herself in her artwork at home. She also was quite shy and didn’t talk to too many people in town, except for Haley who she had been best friends with since high school and of course she gay best friend, Elliott.

Normally Alex had no issues with talking to women, in fact he had girls all over him on a daily basis through school. But Leah for some reason was just so hard to talk to, and was so unbelievably beautiful that he found her intimidating to confess his feelings to, so he never mustered up the courage to talk to her.

“Hey boys, come join us!” Haley yelled over as her and Leah laid their towels down on the hot white sand next to Garrett and Alex’s belongings and rested themselves on top of them. Garrett couldn’t help but stare at Haley. Her blonde locks were tied up in a messy bun on top of her head while she had on the most minimal amount of make up, clearly not needing any of it.

Garrett let his eyes wander down from Haley’s beautiful sun kissed face to her perfect body. She had the most amazing figure; big breasts that bounced with her every step she took, a tiny waist with a sexy pierced belly button and a gorgeous ass that made Garrett’s mouth water every time he spotted her walking through town. He shot his view back to her eyes, now covered with her pink sunglasses and waved at her and Leah. The two men walked towards the sunbathing beauties and sat on the sand in front of them.

“Hey girls, how are you doing today and how are you enjoying this gorgeous weather?” Alex asked with his usual confidence in his voice but quickly became nervous when Leah flashed him her signature cute smile. He began to chuckle nervously as he tried to remain calm. Garrett rolled his eyes and let out of a small laugh at his ridiculous friend.

“We’re fabulous! This weather is perfect for getting my tan a little darker than it already is,” Haley suddenly threw a bottle of sunscreen onto Garrett’s lap, almost startling him. “Garrett, could you be a sweetheart and help me with my back?” Haley asked while lying down on her front side and undoing her bikini top.

“No problem, Haley.” Garrett moved himself closer to Haley’s side and squeezed a handful of the white lotion into his hand before rubbing his hands together. He began to gently rub the sunscreen into Haley’s smooth skin, which she seemed to enjoy. She moaned quietly with pleasure as Garrett applied more pressure into her back and traced his hands slowly down her skin. Garrett couldn’t help but smile while he watched Haley grip onto the towel beneath her, knowing he was putting on quite the impression. After completely rubbing the sunscreen into Haley’s skin and getting every inch of her back, Garret removed his hands. Haley was in complete ecstasy from his strong hands and seemed to miss missed them immediately.

“Thanks, Garrett. One more favor, can you please retie my top?” She looked over her shoulder and flashed him a wink, making Garrett flash her a smile. Haley bit her lip, and she turned her face away to lie her head back down as Garrett leaned back over her and tied the strings to her bikini top back up. She shivered when his fingers brushed against her back for a final time. Once he was done, Haley rolled over onto her back and smiled up at Garrett. “You’re an angel.”

“It was nothing,” He laughed while running his fingers through his hair. “So you ladies looking forward to the Luau next Saturday? Should be a lot of fun this year.” He asked making Haley and Leah look at each other with bright looks on their faces.

“Yeah I can’t wait! The Luau is one of my favorite events of the year. The food is the best and our annual volleyball tournament is always fun,” Leah responded while looking over at Alex again. He smiled as they made eye contact and blushed a pink tinge. He was so smitten with her; he couldn’t stand it. “Are you guys going to be there?” She asked and rolled her eyes immediately after at her stupid question. Of course they were going.

“Yeah, we’ll be there for sure. Wouldn’t miss it,” Garrett responded with a smile, clearly he didn’t think Leah’s question was stupid. “So Haley, I was wondering if you would like to go with me to the Luau, as my date?” Garrett boldly asked, catching Haley, Leah and Alex completely off guard. Haley’s cheeks turned a light pink and she smiled brightly at him.

“I’d love to, Garrett!” She replied happily making Garrett’s smile grow even bigger. Haley gawked at his gorgeous white smile, noticing how perfectly straight and pearly white his teeth were. Nonchalantly, Garrett elbowed Alex in the knee, causing Alex to all of a sudden feel on the spot, feeling like he just had to grow some balls and ask Leah. He cleared his throat and turned back to her.

“Leah, would you like to go with me to the Luau?” He finally asked. Leah turned her attention back to Alex with a sweet look on her face. She nodded in excitement.

“Sure Alex!” She said with delight, making Alex smile and blush a darker shade of pink than before. Garrett stood to his feet and grabbed onto his belongings; Alex followed.

“Sounds good, girls. We’ll drop by and pick you up the morning of the Luau. But we got to get going. Got to meet up with my sister. See you later, Haley. Bye Leah.” Garrett flashed Haley one more smile before retreating back to town.

“Bye ladies.” Alex threw Leah a wink before running after Garrett with a little pep in his step. The two girls watched as the two guys left the beach, and once they were out of sight, the two girls turned to each other and began squealing with school girls.

“Oh my Yoba, Garrett finally asked me on a date! Damn, that boy is so fucking hot. Did you see the way he was rubbing that lotion into my back? He got me all hot and steamy. I could have jumped onto him right then and there.” Haley screeched while her and Leah locked fingers and began jumping up and down. Leah started laughing uncontrollably at Haley’s boldness, knowing her best friend was never subtle, but always direct.

“Come on, you knew Garrett liked you! He gets so nervous around you. I told you that you should have just asked him out first if you wanted something to happen with him.” Haley threw Leah a look.

“I don’t ask men out; they ask me out. I’m just happy he finally did it, I was starting to get impatient. I can’t wait to get that boy alone,” Haley licked her lips while winking at Leah. Leah pushed Haley over into the sand as she continued laughing. “And look who’s talking! You’ve had a crush on Alex for like ever. You should totally make a move on him during the Luau. Oh this is so perfect!” Leah’s face turned bright red while thinking about Alex. Haley was the only person who knew about her secret crush on Alex, not even Elliott knew. Maybe she would have to make her move.

“I can’t wait for this Luau now. It should be lots of fun. We’ll have to pick out the perfect bathing suits for the boys. We’ll go into Zuzu City some time this week!” Haley said while lying back down her towel and continuing to tan her already golden skin. Leah joined her and couldn’t stop smiling. She couldn’t wait either.

***

Shane and Ruby’s individual therapy sessions seemed to pass by slower than time itself at the beginning of their sessions. But thankfully neither of them went into too much detail of the issues during their time with the doctor. Doctor Robert wanted their first meetings to be more of an introduction. He asked them both the same questions which were pretty standard questions; where they grew up, favorite movies and music, what they liked to do during the summer. But he also asked them why they were there for the therapy. Doctor Robert wanted to hear the reasons from their own mouths.

“I’m here because I have a substance abuse problem and can’t seem to stop. I want to have my old life back and to be happy again. No more suicidal thoughts, depression or anxiety. I just want to be normal again and make my family proud, especially my brother.” Was Ruby’s answer.

“I’m alcoholic and don’t want to be anymore. I’m a burden to my family and don’t want to be. I constantly think about just ending my life so that they would be better off, but I know that’s not the solution. I just don’t want to be anyone’s burden anymore.” Was Shane’s answer.

Even though neither of them knew Doctor Robert at all, both felt comfortable speaking with him. Maybe it was his calming voice, or maybe it was his demeanor. They didn’t know, but whatever it was, it was helping. Doctor Robert felt like he made very small progress with them both with only their first sessions. Even Ruby and Shane felt good by the end of their sessions. Before stepping out of the office, they agreed to continue seeing Doctor Robert and had discussed their weekly schedule with him. After a small conversation, the three agreed to meet every Tuesday and Friday morning. With a doctor’s note in hand, Shane would be excused from work every Tuesday and Friday. He knew Morris would have a problem with it but knew Marnie would put him in his place again. That thought made him smirk with joy.

“It was such a pleasure to meet the both of you and I’ll see you at the same time on Friday.” Robert shook each of their hands before opening the exit door for them, presenting them both with his soothing smile. Ruby smiled back at him while Shane offered him a small smirk.

“Thank you doctor, we will see you Friday.” Ruby said for the both of them and they left the office building to the busy city street outside. The two began to slowly walk down the sidewalk towards the parked car, taking in everything they had discussed with the doctor. The two of them were both mentally exhausted from their session and couldn’t wait to get home. But first, they needed to find some food. It had been a long morning and neither of them had ate before leaving for the city.

“Are you hungry Shane? We can stop and grab a bite to eat somewhere before we head back into town if you want.” Ruby asked as they walked along the busy sidewalk. Shane didn’t answer at first, he was lost in his thoughts of his session with the doctor. Ruby turned to look at him and asked him again but when she did, she tripped over a large crack in the sidewalk, which caused her to fall forward. Thankfully, he was able to reach out to grab her with his quick reflexes and without realizing it, he grabbed onto her waist and pulled her back into his body. She then looked up at him and the two locked eyes for a moment completely stunned by his actions and where she suddenly was standing. She smiled at him, which made him nervous.

“Thanks.” She spoke softly, making Shane’s knees feel weak when he felt her breath on his lips. He then realized he was still hanging onto Ruby’s tiny waist long after he had stopped her from falling and quickly let go.

“Don’t mention it,” He mumbled under his breath as he attempted to hide his face, not wanting Ruby to see the pink shade his cheeks had become. Shane went to grab onto the hood of his sweater to put over his head when he realized he wasn’t wearing it, remembering he had taken it off inside the doctor’s office. “Shit, I forgot my sweater in there. I’ll be right back.”

“No problem. I’ll wait here for you.” Ruby replied as she took a seat on a nearby bus bench. Shane then turned back and quickly walked towards Doctor Robert’s office building. Thankfully they hadn’t made it very far before Shane had realized his missing sweater, making the walk back less than five minutes.

Shane quickly retrieved his sweater and made it back to Ruby in no time, finding her still sitting on the bench he had left her on. But something was off. She was huddled over her legs, breathing heavily through loud sobs. Almost as if she were having an anxiety attack.

“Ruby?” Shane asked while placing a hand on Ruby’s shoulder, forcing her to whip her head around to see who was touching her. Shane gasped quietly when he got a look at Ruby’s horrified expression. Her eyes were puffy and red from crying as hard as she was, and she was shaking uncontrollably. “Ruby, what the hell happened? I was gone less than ten minutes.”

“We need to go now! I can’t stay here any longer! I’m not safe here!” Ruby shouted before standing from the bench and taking off down the sidewalk, which caught Shane completely off guard. He didn’t know what was happening or how to respond to it.

“Ruby, hang on a second! Tell me what’s going on! Why aren’t you safe here?!” He yelled as he started running after her, but she didn’t stop, only kept running towards the parking garage.

Ruby ran as fast as she could back to her car. Her breaths were short and weak, but she never slowed down while Shane could barely keep up with her. After all his years of heavy drinking and lack of exercise, he thought the running was going to give him a heart attack. After the longest four minutes of moving as fast as she could, the two reached the parking garage, Ruby clicked the button of her car keys to remote start her vehicle.

“Get in now! We are getting the fuck out of here!” She screamed while jumping into her side of the car, Shane followed a short second after her. As soon as his car door shut, Ruby drove frantically out of their parking space and out of the parking garage. She shot her head around looking around, like she was looking for someone. Shane looked around as well but didn’t see anything or anyone suspicious. Ruby was breathing so heavily; she was now having a panic attack. She was driving fast, almost doubling the speed limit. Shane looked over at her with fear in his eyes.

“Ruby, slow down. Please tell me what happened,” He said as calmly as he could, trying to not make her panic more. But she ignored him as she continued racing through the city, heading for the highway back to Stardew Valley as fast as she could. “Ruby, do you want me to drive? You’re freaking me out right now.” Shane said again.

“No! We need to get as far away from here as possible. I’m not coming back to this city ever!” She screamed as they hit the highway, Ruby breathing a loud sigh of relief when they made it there. But she still didn’t slow down as they continued driving back to Stardew Valley, so they made it back in less than an hour, with Shane death gripping the seat with his fingernails the entire ride back. He thought for sure he was going to die in that car with Ruby. But once he saw the sign for the cut off to Pelican Town, Shane was relieved that they had made it in one piece.

When they pulled off the exit where the bus stop for town was located, Ruby stopped her car just before the road to the farm. She put the car into park and leaned back into her seat. Shane looked over at her and noticed her eyes becoming filled with tears as she began to cry heavily, barely breathing in between each gasp. She threw her face into the palms of her hands and sobbed, leaving Shane to stare at her and not know what to do or what had happened with he left. All he knew was she was terrified when they left the city, and he couldn’t help but feel guilty for leaving her alone in a city she clearly didn’t feel safe in. She was shaking so much, so Shane unbuckled his seatbelt and moved as close as he could to her without completely sitting on the middle console.

“Ruby,” He said softly as he placed his hand on her back. “We’re home now. Everything’s fine.” He began to move his hand gently up and down her back to help calm her down. Ruby removed her face from her hands to look over at Shane, seeing he was looking at her in a way he hadn’t before. There was no anger in his face, only sadness. His eyes were soft and welcoming, and she felt safe again.

Without any hesitation, Ruby threw her body towards Shane, practically jumping over the center console and wrapped her arms around him tightly, startling him. She buried her face in the nook of his shoulder and continued to cry. At first, Shane didn’t know what to do. He hadn’t had a girl cry like this in his arms, other than Jas. But he eventually draped his arms over Ruby and hugged her tight, trying to make her feel safe. He closed his eyes as he took in the smell of her coconut shampoo and her perfume. She smelled heavenly, but Shane kept his thoughts at bay, wishing he were hugging her for different circumstances.

“I can’t go back to the city, Shane. I’m sorry.” She whispered into his shoulder through her cries. But Shane shushed her while he rubbed her back again.

“Ruby, it’s okay. We’ll figure this out.” He said softly. He let her continue to cry until she had enough. He didn’t understand what was happening, but he didn’t care. If she didn’t feel safe going back, he wasn’t going to forcer her to. Tomorrow, he’d make the phone call to Doctor Robert.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading. :)


	5. The Luau (Part One)

The telephone of the farm house loudly rang Thursday morning, two days after Ruby and Shane’s visit to their doctor’s office in the city, and since Ruby’s unexpected panic attack. She hadn’t left her bed since that day, feeling like it was the safest place for her to be. After getting home from the city and dropping Shane off at home, Ruby told Garrett what had happened and swore she wouldn’t return to the city. Even though Garrett was extremely upset Ruby wouldn’t be continuing to see Doctor Robert, he completely understood why she couldn’t go back. It was too risky for her own health. There was just something about Zuzu City that brought out Ruby’s worst fears, and he knew exactly what those fears were.

After leaving the hospital from her overdose, Ruby was contacted by the Zuzu City Police Department to discuss what had happened at the party she was attending when she overdosed. She spoke with police and explained to them that her boyfriend at the time had drugged her before leaving her at the party unconscious, assaulted and completely alone. She also told them about Connor’s track record of dealing and his abusive behavior towards her.

She had been dating him for a year at that point, and it was a year of hell. He would hit her, rape her and force her to sell for him. She was completely terrified of him and didn’t know how to leave him without him doing something to her. So when she finally found she had the opportunity to leave him and turn him over to the police, she figured it was the only way she could escape. Connor had called Ruby shortly after being thrown in jail, threatening he would come after her when he got out, but that day never came. Days turned into weeks and then weeks turned into months. He never did call again, and he never came back. But no wanting to risk running into him, Ruby moved as far away she could and far away from her destructive past.

Garrett ran into the kitchen to answer the ringing phone, sliding swiftly across the floor from his bedroom to the kitchen like he Tom Cruise in Risky Business. He was able to catch the phone call before whoever was calling hung up.

“Hello, Parker’s Farm. Garrett speaking.” He said into the phone. A confident and professional sounding male voice spoke on the other end.

“Hello Garrett, this is Doctor Robert. I am calling to see how Ruby is doing. I spoke with her friend Shane yesterday about what happened after the two of them left my office and he informed me she does not want to return to the city.” Garrett sighed heavily into the phone as he ran his fingers through his strawberry blonde hair.

“Yes, she won’t be returning to the city. I’m sorry for wasting your time but she can’t return, it just isn’t safe for her right now to be in Zuzu. If there is someone else you can recommend closer to Stardew Valley, Ruby and I would really appreciate it.” Doctor Robert cleared his throat before speaking.

“As a matter of fact, I have cleared my Tuesday and Friday schedules for the next little while so I can visit Ruby and Shane in your town while they are my patients. I wouldn’t want Ruby risking her own safety to come to Zuzu and there isn’t anyone within the surrounding towns of Stardew Valley that is qualified to handle their delicate situations.” Garrett couldn’t believe what he just heard. Normally doctors did not do special treatments for their patients.

“Woah, Doctor Robert are you sure about this? It’s a long drive, around an hour. I can pay you extra for your travel time of course. I insist. This is way too nice of you.” Doctor Robert chuckled on the other end of the phone.

“There’s no need for that, Garrett. When I met your sister, I could see how much she wants to fix herself. She needs my help and I want to help her. Plus I can go see my dear friend Harvey afterwards. Could you please let her know I will be there tomorrow at 9:30 sharp. Thank you very much Garrett and have a wonderful rest of your day.” Garrett began to grin from ear to ear.

“Thank you very much Doctor, I’m so grateful for your generosity. We will see you tomorrow.” And with that, Garrett hung up the phone and ran upstairs to tell Ruby the news. He made his way down the short hallway to the closed door of Ruby’s room. He raised his hand to the wood and began gently knocking before opening the door to only see darkness. The curtains were closed, keeping the sunshine out. The lights were also off, as if it was night time in her room. But when the light from the hallway made its way into her room, Garrett finally saw a mass of darkness on top of Ruby’s bed, indicating that’s where she was. Garrett moved toward her bed and sat on the edge.

“Ruby?” He asked with a low voice. She did not move or respond, so he placed his hand on her back. To that she slightly jumped. “Shit, sorry were you sleeping?” Ruby groaned quietly as she rolled over to face him.

“Yes I was. What’s up Garrett?” She said with a groggy voice. Garrett felt terrible for waking her up since she hadn’t been sleeping great over the last two days. But he figured his good news was a good enough reason to disturb her.

“Well I just got off the phone with Doctor Robert and he was quite upset that you won’t be able to return to the city for your appointments. So he decided that he will be making the trip here to continue your therapy sessions. He will be here tomorrow for 9:30.” He said with an upbeat voice and a silly smirk on his face. Ruby’s eye lit up at the mention of Doctor Robert’s wonderful gesture and she lifted herself from her mattress. A smile started to form on her face.

“Wait, are you serious?” She asked and was even happier when Garrett started to nod with excitement. Ruby’s eyes became flooded with tears, but they weren’t from sadness. She couldn’t have been happier. Ruby jumped out of her bed for the first time in two days and hugged her brother tightly. He laughed loudly as her returned the hug.

“Dead serious. You got yourself an awesome doctor,” He let go of Ruby and as he did, she took off for her closet and began rummaging through her clothes, throwing them over her shoulder at Garrett. He looked at her with confusion. “Ruby, what are you doing?” She threw herself around to face him.

“I have to go tell Shane the good news!” She squealed and turned back to continue picking an outfit out for herself. But stopped when she caught the scent radiating off her body, making her gag from the smell. “Maybe I should shower first.” Garrett began laughing uncontrollably. Ruby jabbed him in the ribs as she rushed past him towards the bathroom.

Ruby undressed quickly and jumped inside the warm shower. She couldn’t believe how giddy she was all of a sudden, but she appreciated it over the depressive state she had been in for the last two days. She washed her hair and body within five minutes and jumped out as quickly as she had entered the shower. She got dressed even quicker than her shower and was out the door within another five minutes. Normally the walk to the ranch was around ten minutes but Ruby had ran the entire way, so she was there within six minutes. She knocked on the red door to the ranch and was greeted by Marnie. The two women shared a smile.

“Ruby! How lovely to see you. How are you doing? Shane told me about what happened when you went to the city on Tuesday,” The smile had faded from Ruby’s face and was replaced with a look of embarrassment. She knew how much she scared Shane on their drive back to town and she hadn’t explained why she was reacting that way. Marnie placed her hand on Ruby’s shoulder to comfort her. “Don’t worry about it, honey. I’m sure you and Shane will find someone else where who can take you on as patients.” Ruby’s smile returned when she realized Doctor Robert must not have called Shane yet to tell him about making the trip out for our sessions.

“Actually I got a phone call from Doctor Robert. He is going to come here twice a week to continue our therapy sessions. I ran here to tell Shane as soon as I found out.” Marnie’s face lit up with the good news and began to tear up with joy. Marnie was so worried that Shane wouldn’t find another therapist since he couldn’t drive himself to the city. His license had been revoked after a DUI was issued to him from the year prior.

“Oh that’s wonderful news! Well Shane is in his room if you would like to be the one to tell him.” Marnie moved aside to let Ruby inside the house. Marnie placed her hand on Ruby’s back and pointed her in the direction to Shane’s room. Ruby smiled once more at Marnie before she began walking down the long hallway to the closed door right at the end. She knocked lightly on the door and heard a low groaning on the other side. The door then flew open and a shirtless Shane stood in front of her.

“What now Marnie?” He said with rage in his voice, but his face went white when he saw Ruby standing there. Ruby couldn’t help but look down at Shane’s exposed torso. Ruby couldn’t stop staring at the sight that was in front of her. Shane was in great shape, despite being a heavy drinker. He was sporting a well toned stomach with the smallest bit of chest hair and a small trail of hair running down his lower stomach towards his shorts, disappearing at the waistband. Ruby felt a fire in the pit of her stomach as she bit her lip. But soon realized she was staring and not being subtle about it. She cleared her throat and she looked back up at Shane’s face, and could see his face had turned a lovely shade of red. “Sorry I thought you were Marnie.” He said quietly.

“No it’s just me. I just came by to tell about that Doctor Robert just called and said he’ll be willing to drive here to continue our therapy sessions. He’ll be here tomorrow morning.” She said with a giant smile. Shane’s eyes went wide with shock which made Ruby giggle.

“Seriously? That’s so awesome!” His enthusiasm took her by surprise. Ruby had never seen Shane much emotion outside anger and frustration, but she liked this look on him. Shane then surprised her again when he pulled her in for a hug. He snaked his arms around her body, engulfing her with his naked upper body. Ruby slowly moved her arms around him, feeling his warm skin against the arms and hands. His skin felt so good and so comforting. She didn’t want to let him go, so when he removed himself she was overcome with disappointment. “Sorry.” He said quietly as he was now realizing that he was half naked. Ruby shook her head and giggled.

“It’s okay. Well I just wanted to tell you the good news, but I should get going. Garrett is letting me help him with some small jobs around the farm now. I’ll see you tomorrow.” She said while retreating down the hallway.

“Ruby,” The sound of her name forced her attention back to Shane. “I’m glad to see you smiling again. See you tomorrow.” He said with a small smile on his face. Ruby flashed him a smile and a wink before turning back down the hall and left the ranch. He could hear Marnie saying goodbye to Ruby and the sound of the front door closing. Then Marnie appeared in the hallway with a large smile on her face.

“Shane, I’m so happy that Doctor Robert agreed to do this for you two.” Marnie said with excitement in her voice. Shane nodded along with her statement.

“Me too, Aunt Marnie.” He said as he retreated back inside his bedroom, closing the door behind him and locking it. He sat down on his bed and reached underneath his mattress for a can of sparkling water, his new beverage of choice since quitting drinking. Once he finished the can, he laid down on his bed and became lost in his thoughts. All he could think about was Ruby. Her smile before leaving the ranch. The wink she gave him. How sexy she looked when he caught her staring at his body and biting her lip. The way she felt in his arms when he was hugging her. The intense smell of coconut shampoo and signature perfume, he thought of all of it. With his mind completely entranced by Ruby, Shane started to feel himself become aroused and himself grow hard in my shorts. He looked down at his now erect dick and sighed loudly.

“Every time I think about her.” He said to himself under his breath. Over the past month since Ruby had moved into Stardew Valley, her and Shane developed some kind of friendship and bond through their vices. They hadn’t really talked about anything other than that, but he still felt close to her and was always thinking about her.

Without my hesitation, Shane removed his shorts and was now completely naked. He figured with Marnie busy with work and Jas being out with Penny and Vincent, he had enough time to take care of himself before being interrupted. He closed his eyes and then began to pleasure himself with his mind completely focused on Ruby.

*** 

“I believe that is the end of our session today, Ruby.” Doctor Robert stood up from his seat and shook Ruby’s hand. Ruby wiped away the tears from her eyes as she walked Doctor Roberts to the front door of the house. This was their fourth appointment together and their third one at the farm in Stardew Valley, and Ruby was really making progress. During their most recent session in particular, she had really opened up more about her past relationship with Connor and their ever spiraling relationship with each other and how she wound up using hardcore drugs. Before finishing their session, she had talked about her nightmares about him and what would happen if he ever found her on the farm. But Robert was able to calm her down and reassure her that she was safe in Stardew Valley and wouldn’t have to go back to Zuzu City any time soon.

“Thank you again Doctor for making these trips out here. I really appreciate all your efforts to continue helping myself and Shane. I’m beginning to really feel like myself again and I am really looking forward to the Luau tomorrow. I haven’t been into town in the last couple weeks, so it will be nice to finally meet some more people.” Ruby said with a smile while Robert patted her on the back.

“It’s my pleasure really, and it gives me a chance to revisit the valley. I used to spend a lot of time out in this area when I was a young man. I am really enjoying the drive down, plus it’s been wonderful reconnecting with Harvey,” Robert looked down at his watch, noticing the time. “Well I must get going to see Shane. I will see you on Tuesday and remember to have fun tomorrow.” He waved to Ruby and bounded for his car. After Doctor Robert’s car was gone, Ruby stepped off the porch and walked over to the shed to see what Garrett was up to. He didn’t stay in the house while Ruby was in her therapy sessions since it wasn’t his business to be lurking around eavesdropping on their conversations.

She opened the door to the shed and found Garrett examining some bottles of a beautifully colored wine, making sure the quality of the product was perfect. She leaned herself against the doorframe and watched how concentrated he was, not even noticing she was standing there. That was until she snickered to herself, then he broke himself away from the wine.

“Oh hey, I didn’t even hear you come in. How did it go?” He asked while putting the bottle down. As he looked at his sister, Garrett was beginning to notice a difference in her behavior and demeanor. The color in her face was starting to come back, she was starting to gain an appropriate amount of weight again and wasn’t looking so malnourished anymore. She was also walking around the house with a smile on her face more as each day passed. He was forever grateful for Doctor Robert’s kindness and dedication to his work.

“Today was good. We talked about Connor a lot which sucked and of course I cried but it felt really good to get it out in the open more. But now that that’s done, I can finally get more excited about the Luau tomorrow. I’m really looking forward to meeting Alex and Haley.” She said with a little jump and clap. Garrett chuckled as he walked over and gave his sister a kiss on her hairline.

“I’m glad to see you excited about going into town again. You’re doing amazing with your therapy,” He smiled down at his sister. “Do you want to help me out here for a little bit before lunch?” He asked and she happily accepted. The brother sister duo spent the rest of the morning working on the jellies and wines before retiring to the house for a lunch break. Garrett went on and on about how thrilled he was about his artisan goods he was saving for the Fall fair and his attack plan for destroying Pierre in the grange display contest. Ruby rolled her eyes at how animated Garrett became every time he talked about the fair and ruining Pierre’s winning streak. It had been an almost daily topic.

After lunch, Garrett went back to working in the shed while Ruby spent some time in the barn. Garrett had recently purchased a calf from Marnie and Ruby was absolutely in love with her. Garrett let Ruby name the calf and she decided to call her Sapphire as kind of an homage to herself. She would spend sometimes hours playing and talking with the calf about her therapy sessions since she didn’t want to talk with Garrett about every little detail from them. It made Ruby feel better to let everything out to someone who didn’t understand or couldn’t respond. Sometimes Ruby would sing to the calf, who seemed to enjoy the sound of her voice.

As the day wore on, Ruby hadn’t noticed that it was almost dinner time. She was so lost in the melodies she was singing to the calf; she didn’t even seem to notice when the door of the barn opened, and Shane had entered. Sapphire didn’t notice either as she continued to listen to Ruby sing with her head rested against Ruby’s arm. Shane had come by to speak with Ruby and Garrett had directed him to the barn knowing Ruby was still inside.

When he had first opened the door, Shane saw Ruby lying on a bail of hay petting the young calf and softly singing a lullaby to her. He stood in the doorway and just watched her, completely captivated by her. She looked so beautiful as she sung and smiled at the young cow, Shane couldn’t help but stare at her and listen to her beautiful voice. As she finished her song, Shane moved away from the doorframe and made a twig snap underneath his foot, causing Ruby to look over at him. She was still smiling.

“Hey Shane! Sorry I didn’t see you there. How long have you been standing there?” She asked as her face began to blush a light red. Shane chuckled and ran his fingers through his hair.

“Long enough to hear you singing to Sapphire,” Ruby looked down in embarrassment as Shane leaned up against one of the posts in the barn. “Don’t be embarrassed, you have a beautiful voice.” She looked back up into his eyes and smiled.

“Thanks Shane,” She gave a light giggle. “How was your therapy today?” She asked.

“It went well. Uncovered a lot of shit today,” He said while he moved closer to Ruby, sitting down at the bail of hay next to her. She could tell he was nervous for some reason. “But I actually came by to ask you something.” He said quietly. Ruby sat up so she was now face to face with Shane.

“What is it?” She asked with curiosity. He looked at her while he rubbed the back of his neck.

“So tomorrow is the Luau, and I was wondering if you maybe wanted to go with me?” He asked so quietly that Ruby almost missed it. But she heard him, and it made her smile. She placed a hand gently on top of his leg, sending bolts of electricity up Shane’s body.

“I would love to go with you.” She said still grinning from ear to ear. Shane felt himself blush all over as he smiled the biggest smile Ruby had ever seen from him. He stood up awkwardly and chuckled nervously.

“Cool. Okay then I will see you tomorrow morning.” He said as he walked for the barn door, walking into a bucket of seed and knocking it over. Ruby began to laugh loudly while Shane wanted to crawl under a rock and die from embarrassment. Ruby got up from the hay bail and walked over to him, placing her hand on his arm. Electricity again.

“I’m looking forward to it. See you tomorrow.” She said while she kissed him lightly on the cheek. Shane threw her a smirk while he continued out of the barn and practically ran back to the ranch. Ruby watched him as he walked away, and she just beamed while she looked out to him. She was looking forward to tomorrow even more now.

***

It was the morning of the Luau and the weather was perfect. Not a cloud in the sky and the sun was shining brighter than ever, even the humidity was practically non existent. It seemed strange that the weather was always perfect on the days of the town’s special events, but no one ever questioned it.

Haley and Leah had been up hours before the Luau getting ready for their dates with Garrett and Alex. The girls had made a bus trip into Zuzu City earlier in the week to pick out new bikinis for the festival and were quite satisfied with their choices. Leah had picked out a simple green bikini, knowing it was Alex’s favorite color, with a traditional triangle style top and high waisted bottoms. Haley on the other hand picked a more revealing set with her goal to seduce Garrett. She picked out a sky blue colored set with a bandeau styled top with a cut in the center, revealing her well endowed cleavage while her bottoms were more of a thong style, so her assets were on full display. The two women spent the morning doing their hair and make up while they talked about the guys.

“I am so excited this Luau is finally here. I can’t wait to see the look on Garrett’s face when he sees me.” Haley giggled while applying her lip gloss. She had secretly been pining over Garrett since the previous summer, ever since she saw him shirtless at the beach for the first time. She would flirt with him every time she would see him in town or whenever he’d stop by for a visit. Haley knew he liked her since he would always get incredibly nervous around her and not be able to form a sentence, but the more it happened, the more Garrett started to retaliate the flirting. She knew it was only a matter of time before he caught on to her many hints.

“I can’t wait to see Alex’s face when he sees me in his favorite color!” Leah exclaimed while she finished her classic braided hair look. Leah wasn’t as forward with her feelings towards Alex as Haley was about Garrett. She was more on the shy side, minus when she was with Haley. Leah had been interested in Alex since their senior year of high school but was always too terrified to do anything about it. After enough time had passed and nothing happened, Leah kind of gave up on ever being in a relationship with him, thinking he only saw her as a friend. But was completely floored when he finally asked her out.

As they finished off their final touches, they heard a knock on the front door. They both squealed as they ran for the door, opening it up to see both Garrett and Alex standing there in their swim trunks and sunglasses. Alex’s mouth hung open while Garrett removed his sunglasses to get a better look at Haley, his eyes bugged out in awe.

“Hey boys.” Haley said seductively while winking at Garrett. Neither of them could say anything while their tongues practically hung out of their mouths. Alex realized first how hard they were staring and nudged Garrett with his elbow. He cleared his throat and smiled.

“Hey ladies, you look amazing.” Garrett finally spoke while he continued to eye Haley’s body up and down. He could feel himself getting turned on, so he forced himself to look away. Haley giggled playfully while her and Leah grabbed their beach bags and sandals by the front door. The four stood outside Haley and Emily’s home and began to head over to the beach. Alex snaked his arm around Leah’s shoulder while Garrett couldn’t help himself and wrapped his arm around Haley’s waist, pulling her close to him and making her giggle.

“You look fucking sexy.” Garrett whispered into Haley’s ear, making her blush and bite her lip. Her plan was working already. She placed her hand on his back while they walked and gently dug her manicured nails into him, making him wince from pleasure. This was going to be excruciating for him to not be able to keep his hands off her.

***

Shane walked up the steps of the farm house and knocked on the front door. He had been preoccupied earlier that morning with getting Jas ready for the Luau that he completely missed the time. The Luau had started at 9:00 in the morning, but by the time he bolted out of the house to pick up Ruby, it was approaching 9:30. When he finally reached the farmhouse, Shane was sweating and looked a hot mess. His hair was drenched with perspiration and his face was beet red. He was worried that Ruby wasn’t home when there was no answer the first time he knocked, thinking she might have already left for the beach. So he knocked a second time. It was completely silent until he heard a loud ‘ _THUMP”_ inside the house followed by an even louder ‘ _FUCKING HELL’_ from Ruby.

Shane chuckled to himself, wondering what the hell Ruby was up to inside that house. Suddenly, the front door flew open to a flustered looking Ruby. She was panting and her face was a light pink shade, almost looking like she just finished going for a morning run. But she was still in her pajamas. Shane’s eyebrow raised while he rubbed the back of his neck.

“I am so sorry; my fucking brother didn’t wake me up before he left. I’m going to kill him!” She screamed while she turned around and ran back upstairs. “Give me like ten minutes. Come inside!” He could hear her shouting as she disappeared up the stairs and slamming her bedroom door. Shane walked inside and sat in one of the chairs at the kitchen table. He continued to hear banging noises and curses from upstairs as Ruby got dressed for the Luau. Shane felt awkward, thinking that Ruby was frantically getting ready because of him, so he stood up and walked to the staircase. He walked up to the top step and peered his head around the corner.

“Ruby, you don’t need to rush. Just take your time.” He said loudly. But as he finished speaking, Ruby’s bedroom door flew open and there she stood ready for the Luau. Shane felt his facial expression turn to shock when he laid his eyes on her, thinking she looked amazing. Her strawberry blonde hair was pulled back into a half up do with braids, and her face was free from makeup but still looked beautiful. Then he realized this was the least amount of clothing he had ever seen on her, and he felt himself staring at her body.

She was wearing a dark purple bikini with a triangle styled top and matching bottoms, all being held together with small strings. Her figure was breathtaking, showing off her curvy hips and medium sized breasts. As Shane’s eyes moved more down her body, he noticed she was also shorting some body modifications; a large tattoo of cherry blossoms that was taking up the entire right of her torso, her belly button was pierced on the top and bottom, and the biggest shock of all was the four piercings she had on her hips. He had never seen or heard of anything like it before. Shane felt himself becoming hot and short of breath, and he quickly turned away.

“Sorry. I should have stayed downstairs.” He said shakily, but Ruby just giggled. He loved the way she giggled, but it wasn’t helping his current situation.

“Shane, it’s fine. Damn, you apologize way too much,” She said as she walked past him, elbowing him as she past and headed down the stairs. Shane rolled his eyes at himself once he caught a glimpse of Ruby’s perfect ass in those bikini bottoms. He was losing control over himself every time he was around her, and he didn’t like it. She walked over to the front door, threw on her sandals and grabbed her beach bag she thankfully had ready by the front door the night before. As she put on her sunglasses, she looked back and Shane who was still standing on the stairs. “Are you coming?” She playfully asked, causing Shane to begin blushing again. He broke himself from his thoughts and ran down after her.

***

The Luau was one of the more strange festivals in Stardew Valley. Everyone of course had fun at the event with playing in the ocean, eating the amazing food from the buffet tables and dancing along with the live band that played every year. But the thing that made it different than the other events was the tradition of the potluck soup; a huge bowl of hot soup that was thrown together from the various ingredients brought by the townspeople to share with the Governor of Stardew Valley. When Garrett first witnessed the unhuman sized bowl, he thought it was a joke. Where did they find such an oversized bowl to even start this tradition, and where did they store it for the rest of the year? They were questions he never received the answers to.

The beach was packed with all the townspeople, and everyone seemed to be having a wonderful time. Most of the married couples were dancing together on the makeshift dance floor while the single young adults mingled together on the opposite side of the beach by Elliott’s log cabin. Lounge chairs had been set up for anyone who wanted to relax and there was also a volleyball net, which had been used annually by the younger adults.

Garrett, Haley, Alex and Leah made their way to the open beach and claimed their spots by some chairs. The girls lied their towels down on two chairs while the guys greeted Elliott and Harvey, who were standing quite close together by the side of Elliott’s cabin. After saying hi to Elliott and Harvey, Garrett grabbed a beautiful looking red cabbage out of his backpack and ran over to the large soup bowl; throwing it inside. It was one of his best quality products and had been saving it for the soup. He ran back over to his friends and as he did Maru, Penny, Sam, Sebastian and Abigail had all arrived together. Last to join the group was Emily, who was joined along with Sandy, the mysterious shop owner of the Oasis from Calico Desert.

“Who’s ready to get the volleyball game started?!” Alex shouted as he grabbed a hold of the ball, throwing it in the air as he walked over to the net. Everyone but Haley, Emily and Sandy ran over to join the game, which was the way it normally went. Garrett hung back and sat on the chair next to Haley.

“You sure you don’t want to play?” He asked already knowing the answer. Haley threw him a mischievous look.

“No, I’d rather watch you from over here,” She winked, forcing him to smile his bright white smile. “But don’t play all day. I want some Garrett time too.” She bit her lip while running her hand up his thigh.

“Don’t worry, you’ll have plenty of my attention later.” He said with a low seductive voice and ran back to join the others on the volleyball court. But as he approached, Alex groaned loudly and threw his hands in the air.

“We don’t have enough players; we need two more people,” He said with frustration and turned towards the three ladies stationed on the lounge chairs. “Are you sure none of you want to play?” He asked but was rejected by all three. And just as everyone was about to give up on the game, Garrett spotted Ruby and Shane entering the beach area.  
  
“There’s our two players now!” He shouted as he ran over to meet them. Everyone watched as Garrett ran off to greet the pair, some were raising their eyebrows, either wondering who she was or why she was with Shane. When he made it to them, Ruby punched her brother in the arm. “What was that for?” He asked while rubbing his arm. Ruby crossed her arms across her chest and glared at him.

“For letting me sleep in! I only woke up because I heard Shane knocking on the door. I tripped while frantically running towards the door to let him inside like a moron and fell flat on my face. Thanks bro!” She shouted. Garrett chuckled while he ran his fingers through his hair and put his arm around his sister.

“Shit I’m sorry Sis. I was so focused on picking up Haley that I forgot about you,” Ruby pushed him away and laughed at him. He was pretty distracted by thoughts of Haley ever since he asked her to the Luau. Garrett grabbed on to her hand and pulled her over to the group, Shane followed behind them. “Come on, everyone wants to meet you. And we’re setting up a volleyball game so drop your stuff and get on the court.” While Garrett moved towards the group, he motioned for Haley, Emily and Sandy to join them. Once everyone was finally together, Garrett introduced Ruby to his friends.

“For those of you who haven’t met her, this is my sister Ruby. Ruby, this is everyone.” He laughed while going through each person that stood before her. Of course she had already met Sam, Sebastian, Abigail, Elliott, Harvey, Emily and Leah but everyone else was a fresh new face. Maru and Penny were so sweet to her, even sharing a friendly hug with Ruby. Emily introduced Sandy as her girlfriend, who was very exotic looking. Ruby was captivated by Sandy’s beauty, with her glowing tanned skin and long luscious red hair. Then she was greeted by Alex, who Ruby thought was quite attractive.

“Nice to finally meet you Ruby, I’ve been waiting years to finally meet my best friend’s twin sister! Damn, you two look way too much alike, it’s kind of trippy! ” He laughed while bringing her in for a tight hug. She smiled sweetly at him when he finally let her go.

“Nice to meet you too Alex, I’ve heard so much about you.” She reciprocated. Then Garrett turned her to face the infamous Haley. Ruby couldn’t believe how beautiful Haley was, which explained why Garrett was so distracted by her all the time.

“Ruby, this is Haley.” He said while the two women shared a hug. Haley smelled amazing, making Ruby wonder if that was her natural scent or her body wash. It was intoxicating.

“Nice to finally meet you Ruby, I’ve heard a lot of you from your brother.” Haley said while shooting a look and wink over to Garrett. Ruby giggled while looking at her brother’s blushing face. “Nice to meet you too Haley. I’ve definitely heard a lot about you too. Garrett doesn’t talk about much else around the house other than you.” Ruby exclaimed while smiling stupidly at her brother, causing him to roll his eyes and grab onto Ruby’s arm.

“Okay, that’s enough out of you. Let’s play some volleyball,” Garrett shouted. He looked back at Haley one more time before his attention turned to Shane, who had been standing awkwardly behind the group while Ruby was meeting everyone. “Shane, are you coming? We need one more to make the teams even.” He gestured to him to join, which made the rest give Garrett a confused look. Shane never usually played the annual volleyball game with the rest of the young adults, or even associate with them. He would normally be stationed by the alcohol and would just drink his way through the festival. As Shane rested his bag by the other’s belongings, Garrett huddled everyone together.

“Guys, he’s good friends with Ruby and he’s cool. He’s playing.” Garrett demanded harshly through his whispers and everyone agreed with a single nod. The teams were divided into six per side; Garrett, Ruby, Shane, Penny, Harvey and Sebastian versus Alex, Leah, Elliott, Abigail, Maru and Sam. Once everyone was in their positions, Alex signaled for the start of the game.

“Okay guys, let’s go!” He shouted while throwing the ball into the air and spiking it over to the other team’s side. The game had begun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading. :)


	6. The Luau (Part Two)

“Damn it!” Alex shouted while kicking the sand beneath him. He wasn’t anticipating for Ruby and Shane to be so good at volleyball and his team was losing by quite a few points. Ruby would throw herself at the ground to retrieve spikes and would volley them over to Shane, who would then spike them over to the other team’s side. Alex and Sam were able to stop a few from hitting the ground but Shane was always able to get them so close to the boundary line that it almost looked like it wasn’t going to make the point. But then Alex remembered that Shane was on the volleyball team in high school as well as gridball with him, which explained quite a lot.

Ruby squealed with excitement with Shane’s last spike over to the opponent’s team, causing their team to win the game. She ran over to Shane and jumped onto him with a hug, wrapping her legs around his waist. Shane was laughing loudly while he wrapped his arms around her, causing all the others to look out with shock. None of them had ever seen Shane so happy. But they all really enjoyed playing with him that late morning. Garrett, Penny, Harvey and Sebastian joined the others in celebrating their win, even Sebastian smiled at their victory. The winning team started dancing a victory dance and looked ridiculous doing so.

“We creamed you guys!” Garrett shouted while pointing at the losing team, who were all pouting with defeat. Garrett picked up the ball and began throwing it in the air. “Who’s up for another game?” He asked but was interrupted by Mayor Lewis announcing the tasting of the Luau potluck soup. Garrett threw the ball down to the ground and while the group walked over to join the rest of town, he walked over to Haley, who was still sunbathing on her lounge chair. When he approached her, Haley removed her sunglasses and looked up at him. Garrett sat down on the chair directly next to Haley, their legs touching as he sat down.

“You looked pretty sexy out there,” She said with a sultry voice, making Garrett smile with a cocky grin. She spent the entire game observing Garrett’s glistening physique as he jumped for the ball, dove to the ground to stop it and laughed at him while he boasted about his team’s win. She felt herself getting hot and heavy while watching him, imagine what she’d do to him when the two of them were alone. Haley sat up from the lounge chair and snaked her arm around Garrett’s neck. “Do you want to come back to my house after the Luau? Emily is spending the night in Calico Desert with Sandy and I don’t want to be all by myself.” She whispered into his ear as she lightly licked his earlobe, causing Garrett to become hot and flushed.

“I’d have to be an idiot to say no.” He whispered back while his hand caressed her thigh gently. Her skin was as soft as he had always imagined. She moaned softly at his touch as she gripped the towel underneath her trying to control herself. When she went in to press her lips against his, they were interrupted by Alex yelling from a distance, getting their attention.

“Garrett! Haley! Come on, they’re about to serve the soup,” He shouted over while running towards the two. Both Garrett and Haley shot him a nasty look, causing Alex to smirk at them. “Was I interrupting something? Come on you two, you’re on the fucking beach surrounded by the town. Learn to control yourselves.” He guffawed while running back to join the others.

“I’m going to kill you, Alex!” Garrett shouted with anger in his voice, but Haley just giggled the encounter off. Garrett stood from the chair and reached a hand out to assist Haley from the chair which she happily accepted. The two walked over to join the townspeople in the annual soup with Garrett’s arm wrapped tightly around Haley’s waist.

“Gather around everyone! It’s that time of year again to taste our potluck soup. I trust all of you put in your highest quality ingredients this year. I wouldn’t want the Governor regretting his trip to the valley like last year,” The Mayor shot a death glare at Sam and Sebastian, who were snickering to themselves.

Garrett had told Ruby about last year’s Luau and how Sam and Sebastian put in a couple rotten hard boiled eggs and made the Governor extremely sick. Even though they thought it was hilarious, Lewis sure didn’t think so. He had a stern talking with both of them, demanding that they act their ages. When they still thought it was funny, Lewis forced the two men to clean up the beach by themselves as well as the rest of town for the rest of the summer, which they didn’t think was that funny. It took them a whole day to clean up the giant pot of soup alone, so they swore they wouldn’t pull that kind of stunt again. At least no one else ate the soup, or they feared they would have been ran out of town by the rest of the valley.

The Governor approached the giant pot of soup while Mayor Lewis stood idly behind him with anticipation. It was the most disgusting shade of green with chunks of various items of food floating on the surface. Ruby gagged when she first caught sight of the concoction, which made Shane and Garrett laugh at her.

“It looks nasty, but I promise you, it tastes better than it looks.” Shane whispered into her ear. Ruby felt chills go down her spine as he breathed into her ear. She looked up at him and smiled sweetly, which he mimicked. Ruby loved seeing him in such a good mood.

The Governor took a spoon to the soup and then placed the spoon to his lips. He made a loud slurping noise as he took in the hot mixture, making Jas and Vincent giggle at the silly sound. The older gentleman hummed and hawed for a moment before finally smiling. Mayor Lewis exhaled with a relieved grin, probably holding his breath the whole time.

“Oh my. That’s the best soup I’ve ever tasted! Excellent job this year, folks.” The Governor exclaimed loudly with his booming voice. The townspeople all collectively sighed and began clapping with excitement. Mayor Lewis finally found movement in his feet and walked up towards the bowl of soup, sticking his own spoon inside the mixture. He tasted the soup and was equally as happy as the Governor was. He laughed loudly as he motioned for everyone to form a line to get their share of this year’s potluck soup. Garrett and Ruby made their way to the giant bowl and proceeded to fill their single serve bowls with the soup. While walking back to the lounge chairs, Ruby lifted the bowl to her face to smell the soup. To her surprise, it did have a very satisfying aroma. The group of young adults sat down on the lounge chairs, sitting two per chair. Ruby took a seat next to Shane while Garrett sat next to Haley. Everyone ate their bowls of soup in mostly silence with the exception of delighted hums.

“That was actually really good.” Ruby laughed while wiping the corners of her mouth from any remaining soup. Garrett and Shane laughed while they each finished their food. After everyone finished their meals and cleaned up, Lewis signalled for the band to continue playing and the Luau continued into the early evening.

The younger adults played their second game of volleyball, where Alex demanded to have Ruby on his team. Garrett laughed while Ruby ran over to the opposite side of the net and Abigail went to Garrett’s side. After an intense game, they had reached the final serve. The second game was a little closer in scores, and it was all down to the last serve, which was coming from Alex’s team.

“This game is ours, Garrett!” Alex yelled over to the other team, which made them all laugh.

“Not a chance in hell!” Garrett replied while fist bumping Shane. Alex growled low while he threw the ball into the air and spiked it over the net, which was quickly shot back over by Shane. Ruby dove towards the sand and bumped the ball to Elliott, who volleyed it up high enough that Ruby had time to get off the ground and spike it back over to the other team. As the ball plummeted towards the sand, Alex thought for sure they had won but was disappointed when Sebastian dove and was able to save the ball, bumping it to Harvey. Harvey volleyed it high and was spiked back over by Penny, which was saved by Ruby for the second time. The ball was bumped to Sam who volleyed it back to Ruby, who spiked it as hard as she could over the net. Garrett dove at the sand trying to recover the ball but couldn’t catch it on time. The ball hit the sand and his team groaned with disappointment. “Damn it!” Garrett yelled while punching the sand.

“We won!” Alex screamed while his team gathered into a group hug. He and Elliott then suddenly lifted Ruby onto their shoulders, which took her totally off guard. “Here’s to the best player of the day; Ruby! Ruby! Ruby!” Alex began chanting, which was followed by everyone on the court. Ruby covered her face in embarrassment as she balanced on Alex and Elliott’s shoulders, laughing uncontrollably. She couldn’t remember the last time she was ever this happy and content with her life.

Alex and Elliott lowered her to the ground once the excitement from the game had ended. The sun was almost gone from the sky by the time the game had ended. The group made their way over to the lounge chairs as Elliott and Harvey began working on building a bon fire, which was another annual tradition. Each year after the Luau, the younger adults would party by the bon fire; eating s'mores, playing in the ocean and enjoying some drinks. The group rearranged the lounge chairs around the roaring fire, and everyone sat down in pairs of two. Elliott ran inside to grab his Bluetooth speaker and put on some party music for the group to enjoy. Everyone grabbed some drinks and began dancing or retiring on the chairs. Sandy, Emily, Penny, Maru and Abigail were dancing to the music while Garrett, Haley, Ruby, Shane, Elliott, Harvey, Leah, Alex, Sam and Sebastian stayed by the fire.

“So Ruby, where did you learn to play volleyball like that? You’re a fucking natural.” Alex asked while casually sipping his beer and throwing his arm around Leah’s waist, making her blush. Ruby giggled to herself while taking a drink of her Joja Cola.

“I’ve been playing since I was 13. Was on the team all the way through high school and played with a local team during the summers between each school year.” She said with a bit of cockiness, making Garrett look at her with a proud smile. Volleyball was his sister’s favorite sport, and it was the only thing that made her happy when she was younger. He began to frown when he thought back to when she was in college and how she stopped playing when she became involved with Connor but wiped the thought from his mind.

“Don’t be modest sis, you were the captain of your high school team all the way through school and one of the best players the school had seen in years!” He boasted while taking a swig of his beer. Haley snuggled up closer to him while placing her hand on his thigh.

“Hey, just like you Shane! You were the captain of our team all through high school too. But I got to be honest, she’s way better than you ever were.” Alex laughed while almost falling back off the chair, being saved by Leah. Shane chuckled while taking a drink of his sparkling water.

“I was still better than you were, Alex.” Shane said with a smug smile, causing everyone around them to laugh. Ruby, who was sitting next to him looked over at him with amazement.

“I didn’t know you were our volleyball captain too! Wow, we have more in common that I thought.” She said while gently elbowing him in the arm, making him blush lightly. He was starting to feel closer to Ruby every day that passed but he wasn’t enjoying all the reminiscing of his high school days. After the end of his high school career, Shane’s life went from tolerable to complete shit all within a year.

“Yup. I was captain of the volleyball and gridball teams. I used to be quite the athlete before my life went to hell.” He said softly trying not to sound like he was bragging, then he sulked to himself while finishing off his sparkling water and stood up from his seat. Ruby watched him walk off towards the pier furthest away from everyone and sit down at the very end. The others looked awkwardly at each other as a deafening silence blanketed the group.

***

The party and the bon fire carried on for another hour or so before people started leaving. Once the fire died down and everyone was either intoxicated from overdrinking or exhausted from being in the sun all day, that’s when the party was officially over. Elliott smothered the remaining embers in the fire pit while Alex, Garrett and Harvey put the lounge chairs back in their usual places. Only a few of the young adults were left on the beach with everyone else retiring before the sun had set. Sam, Sebastian and Abigail left an hour before the fire died since they had band practice early the next morning. Penny and Maru left not long after them for their annual Luau slumber party. Emily and Sandy said their goodbyes before the last bus to Calico Desert had left, which left only Garrett, Ruby, Haley, Leah, Alex, Harvey and Elliott left on the beach.

“Well, I think I’m going to turn in for the evening. I had a splendid time today! Hopefully, Lewis will keep the volleyball net up a little longer this year. I’d like a go at another game before summer comes to an end,” Elliott proclaimed as he wrapped his arm around Harvey’s neck. “Are you staying with me tonight?” He asked in a hushed voice. Harvey gave him a sultry smile under his mustache and nodded.

“Good night everyone!” Harvey shouted as him and Elliott disappeared into the beach cabin. Leah yawned while stretching her long arms out and stood to her feet. She picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulder.

“I’m getting pretty tired myself. Today was the best Luau we’ve had in awhile.” She then smiled sweetly at Alex, who replied with a smirk and grabbed his own belongings before joining her.

“I’ll walk you home Leah. Good night guys.” He said while waving back to the others. As they disappeared from the beach, Alex slowly reached for Leah’s hand and intertwined his fingers with her own, gripping her hand tightly.

“I’m ready to go home myself,” Haley whispered to Garrett, signaling he was to join her. She gathered her belongings and grabbed onto Garrett’s hand. “Are you coming with me, Garrett?” She asked with a wink while she licked her lips. He chuckled softly under his breath and nodded. He let go of Haley to grab his bag and rejoined her to head out. But before they did, Garrett turned back to see Ruby still sitting on one of the lounge chairs, looking out in the direction of where Shane was still stationed on the far pier.

“Ruby,” Garrett called out, forcing Ruby to look back at him. “Are you going to be okay getting home? I’m going to walk Haley home.” He said while a stupid smile he couldn’t wipe off his face. Ruby rolled her eyes at him and Haley, who had been waiting for the Luau to end all fucking day. She looked back towards Shane.

“Yes big brother, I’ll be fine. See you tomorrow.” She said sarcastically, since Garrett was only older than her by 13 minutes. She knew very well she wouldn’t see him again tonight and waved the two off. Ruby could hear Garrett and Haley giggling with each other from behind her as the pair left the beach. Then she was all alone.

Alone with the sounds of the wind blowing through the trees surrounding the empty beach. The sounds of the crashing waves against the pier and rocks. At first, she couldn’t move. She felt as though she was bound to that chair and nothing could make her move. But then she looked again at Shane’s dark outline and stood to her feet. As she walked, Ruby loved the feeling of the cold sand between her toes and the warm summer air through her hair. She closed her eyes as she walked closer and closer to the pier, breathing in the relaxing currents.

Then she found herself standing at the end of the dock where Shane had been sitting. She looked at him with a worried look on her face as she saw him hunched over and looking down into the water. Something had happened during the Luau that sent him into this depressive state, and she wanted to know what. She slowly walked up the pier and once she made it to the end, she took a seat beside him. He looked over with a confused look.

“I thought everyone had left.” He said quietly before looking back down at the water.

“Everyone did leave. Garrett is staying the night at Haley’s so I’m in no rush to get home,” She chuckled to lighten the mood, but it clearly didn’t work. Shane was still frowning towards the sea. Ruby sighed with frustration. “Shane, what happened tonight? You were having such a fun time with everyone and they all loved hanging out with you.” She said softly. Shane really did appear to be a totally different person during the Luau, and everyone really liked seeing a whole new Shane. Ruby didn’t want him to slink back into his old ways just yet. Shane exhaled sharply while throwing a small rock out into the open water.

“Just talking about high school reminded me of a time when I was happy and wasn’t an alcoholic. And then it reminded me of what happened shortly after high school was done.” He said while holding back a tear. His voice was trembling, Ruby could hear it loud and clear. She placed her hand on top of his and squeezed it lightly. Shane looked over at her hand, and that’s when Ruby saw a stream of tears falling down his face. She slowly raised her other hand to Shane’s face and gently wiped away his tears, which sent a bolt of electricity down Shane’s back. Her touch was intoxicating to him, almost giving him a high. He looked towards her and was met with her warm eyes staring back at him.

“You don’t have to talk about it, Shane.” She said softly with a calmness in her voice. Shane admired how much she seemed to care about him and his feelings, but he shook his head in protest and abruptly stood to his feet. Why does she care about me, he wondered to himself. He couldn’t understand why Ruby seemed so invested in him.

“Why do you always do that, Ruby?” He asked with a hint of anger brewing under his voice. Ruby was completely taken back by his tone. She stood to join him and threw her hands onto her hips.

“What do you mean, Shane? What exactly do I always do?” She asked in protest. Shane chuckled and running his fingers through his hair, shaking his head furiously. Then turned back towards her.

“Act like you give two shits about me! You don’t owe me anything and I don’t want anything from you, Ruby! So stop trying to make me feel better because I never will! I will always be broken, just like you! I’ll always be an alcoholic wanting to die and you’ll always be a druggie who can’t quit your past!” He shouted as his stance grew taller and towered over her. She opened her mouth to rebuttal his argument but couldn’t find the words to say. She stared at him with a mixture of sadness and fear in her eyes, which he caught. Ruby removed her eyes from him and turned back towards the shore. She could feel a burning sensation behind her eyes. She began to quickly walk back to the beach. Her eyes were filling with tears. She grabbed her bag as she passed by the lounge chairs. The tears were starting to fall. She began to run home. Shane watched as Ruby went from a quick walk to full on running as she disappeared from the beach.

“Fuck.” He whispered to himself, grabbing onto his hair with frustration before throwing his hands frantically into the air, almost like he was punching the air in front of him. “FUCK!” He shouted at the top of his lungs. Why did he just lose his shit on the one person who had shown him any kind of affection since he was a teenager, he wondered to himself. He felt as though he was really starting to get close to Ruby, but he let his insecurities win in his everlasting battle with himself. Something he had done before in the past that cost him two friendships.

After several minutes of losing his shit, Shane decided it was time to go home. The beach was pitch black and had been since before Ruby left, so finding his bag on the beach turned out to be an issue he didn’t want to deal with at that moment. But as he crawled on his hands and knees, he finally located his stuff. His threw his bag over his shoulder and marched home with his head down.

When he reached the ranch, Shane stood outside for a moment, not wanting to deal with Marnie or Jas at that moment, and especially didn’t want to drink his secret stash of beer he had hidden deep in his closet for an emergency. It had been several weeks since Shane’s last drink and he had been feeling healthier since quitting, minus the hellish withdrawals he experienced. He had more energy when he woke up in the morning after sleeping the best sleeps he’d ever had, he felt more positive and seemed happier. Even Marnie managed to make him laugh after telling him some stupid joke. But all of that seemed like a distant memory or even a dream while he stood outside the ranch, leaning against the red brick wall.

“Fuck it.” He said to himself while reaching for the doorknob of the ranch, entering quietly. Thankfully, Marnie and Jas were long asleep at that point so Shane didn’t have to see anyone. He crept along the hardwood floor back towards his bedroom and closed the door behind him. He opened his closet door and began digging underneath the dirty clothes that littered the bottom, searching for his emergency booze. Then he found it, a six pack of his favorite beer. He sat on the floor in front of the closet and took a can off the plastic ring, admiring the can as he looked at it. He reached for the tab on top to open it but stopped himself before the seal could break. Why couldn’t he open it? He didn’t know why until he closed his eyes and saw her face. Ruby.

“I can’t do this.” He whispers to himself as he put the can down in front of him. His thoughts went from alcohol to Ruby, and he felt a blanket of guilt swarm around him. Shane quickly stood to his feet and retreated out of his bedroom and back out of the ranch. He turned to the dirt pathway that lead towards Garrett and Ruby’s farm and began to run. He couldn’t let that be the last thing he said to Ruby that night, knowing she was probably blaming herself for his random outburst. He needed to make things right with her, and it started with him apologizing.

As the farmhouse came into view, Shane could see only one light on in the house, and it belonged to a room upstairs, Ruby’s room he suspected. As he walked up the porch steps, he gave himself a moment to stop panting from the run there and to collect his thoughts. His nerves started growing inside of him, telling him he shouldn’t bother apologizing, she already hated him. But Shane fought those feelings from his mind and knocked on the front door, waiting for Ruby to answer.

***

Garrett and Haley had left the beach with their hands entangled within each others. It had felt like the longest day of their lives waiting for the damn Luau to end, but the moment had finally arrived and thankfully the walk from the beach back to Haley’s was a short one. Once on the front step, Haley rummaged through her bag for her keys and unlocked the door. She and Garrett threw their bags onto the ground beside the door while entering and Haley motioned for Garrett to follow her into her bedroom, which he happily accepted.

As Garrett entered the beach styled bedroom, he heard the door slam behind him and as he flung around to see, his eyes landed on a sultry looking Haley, who was biting her lip and twirling a piece of hair in her fingers. His eyes moved down her body, eyeing her fabulous figure in her very revealing bikini. Haley stepped towards him and placed a hand on his bare chest, sending strobes of heat down his body.

“So Garrett, I finally have you all to myself. I’ve been wanting this for awhile.” She confessed while pushing him back towards her bed. The back of his knees eventually met the mattress and he fell back onto the fluffy comforter. Haley didn’t stop moving towards him and climbed on top of him, straddling his waist. Garrett felt himself start to grow under his bathing suit. Haley had never sat on him, let alone gotten this close to him. His breathes were starting to sound short, likely from his nerves.

“Haley, I’ve been wanting you for a long fucking time.” He hissed while she traced her hands down his chest, onto his stomach and stopping at the waistband on his swim trunks. She looked towards his face and together they shared a long gaze. She smiled brightly.

“Really?” She asked sweetly, making Garrett laugh and sit up on his elbows.

“Yeah, really. Haley, you’ve been the only girl I’ve wanted ever since I moved here. But you didn’t seem interested in me, so I never bothered. And then we became such good friends that I was afraid to fuck up our friendship. But I can’t help myself anymore. I want you.” He said in a low voice while he reached for her hand, squeezing it within his own. Haley began to blush from Garrett’s confession. She had no idea he had had feelings for her for the past five years and had only seen him as more than a friend for the past year. How could she be so blind, she wondered. She then moved her other hand to his face, gently placing it on his cheek as she looked deep into his eyes. All she could see was his desire for her.

“You couldn’t ruin our friendship, Garrett. I want this too.” She whispered she moved her face closer to his. But just as she went in to kiss his lips, Garrett grabbed onto her sides and flipped her body, so her body was now on the mattress and he was on top of her. Haley giggled as Garrett winked at her before pressing his lips against hers. It was immediately electricity between them, and it was hot.

Their kiss started softly, but quickly turned animalistic. Their breathing became heavy as their tongues darted in and out of each other’s mouths. Haley bit Garrett’s lip making him buck his hips into her thighs, causing Haley to moan into his mouth. Garrett then moved his hands slowly up her body, admiring her silky skin as he trailed his fingertips towards her chest. He grabbed onto one of breasts with his large hand and squeezed it gently, feeling her erect nipple underneath the thin clothing. He started messaging her supple breast in a circular motion, sending Haley into a moaning frenzy.

“Help me take this off.” She whispered into his mouth before biting his lower lip. Garrett lifted her body from the mattress and reached behind her to the clasp holding her bikini top together. With one smooth motion, the clasp came undone and bounced off her bosom, revealing her large round breasts and soft pink nipples. The sight of them cause Garrett to become rock hard and Haley could feel every inch of him on the outside of her bikini bottoms. Garrett moved his mouth from Haley’s and began kissing her chin before moving towards her neck. He playfully bit her porcelain skin while his hand moved back to her heaving breasts, playing with her nipple in the palm of his hand.

Haley’s bikini bottoms were soaking wet, and she wanted Garrett right at that moment. She reached for Garrett’s swim trunks and undid the string holding them up. They slid down his waist slightly, revealing the top of his pubic area and the beginning of his long shaft. She placed one hand on Garrett’s chest and pushed him off her. He stood at the edge of the bed while Haley sat up and again reached for his waist, pulling the swim trunks off his body completely.

Haley moaned softly and bit her lip when Garrett’s long erect dick escaped the fabric. Her eyes then met his, and she motioned for him to assist her with her bottoms. He smiled while he twitched his eyebrows and leaned over her waist. Haley lifted her ass from the mattress and Garrett grabbed onto her bottoms, sliding them off her body. Now both completely naked, the two admired each other’s bodies, taking in their first sights of each other.

“You’re fucking perfection.” Garrett whispered while he gawked at Haley’s luscious nakedness. She had an hour glass figure that most girls would kill for and not a blemish on her creamy skin. Haley giggled while watching Garrett’s eyes on her body, knowing how badly he wanted her. Slowly but sensually, Haley parted her knees and opened her core to him. Garrett licked his lips when he saw her glistening wet folds.

“Garrett,” She said seductively, causing Garrett to look up into her eyes. “I want you so fucking bad. I’m done waiting. Get over here.” She raised her hand and with one finger she motioned for Garrett to come to her. Without breaking eye contact, Garrett lowered himself back on top of Haley and rested his elbows on each side of her shoulders. As he did, the tip of his hard dick grazed her entrance, sending chills down both of their bodies. Garrett reached underneath himself and guided himself into Haley’s warm body, making her moan loudly as he slid into her. She grabbed onto his back and began digging her fingernails into his skin as he continued to move deeper into her body. Haley didn’t expect him to feel so big inside her tight hole. After he made it all the way inside, Garrett began to rock his hips gently as his dick moved in and out from Haley’s soaking wet entrance. But he couldn’t help himself, she felt so amazing. He began to buck harder and rock faster, causing Haley’s moans to grow loudly and her grip on his back to dig deeper.

“Haley, you feel fucking amazing.” He huffed while he trusted into her and began moving his hands to her breasts, squeezing them while he continued bucking into her. Haley threw her head back as she removed her hands from his back and reached up to grab her headboard. Garrett looked up to her face, seeing how completely intoxicated with ecstasy she was with him and he loved every second of it. Haley then looked back towards him and the two shared an intense look while they continued to fuck. Haley moved her face to his for a kiss, biting his lip.

“Fuck me from behind.” She breathed into his mouth and in a split second, Garrett jumped off her and flipped her body over. Haley now on all fours, lifted her perfect ass into her air and Garrett couldn’t resist himself and smacked it. Haley giggled with pleasure before moaning loudly when Garrett re-entered her, deeper this time. Garrett grabbed her hips tightly and rocked himself harder into Haley, who was gripping her bedsheets within her hands. Garrett then removed a hand from her hip and reached underneath Haley and began messaging her throbbing clit.

“Oh yes, fuck me Garrett!” She moaned while he rubbed and fucked her. She threw her head to the side to look behind her, only to be met with Garrett’s eyes on her. He looked so sexy thrusting into her and bit his lip when he saw her eyes roll back into her head.

“Fuck, I’m cumming. Oh fuck yes Garrett!” She screamed into her moans. Garrett then felt Haley tighten around him as she lost herself in her orgasm. She was whimpering loudly which was causing Garrett to become close himself. Garrett then felt himself reaching his end point.

“Haley, I can’t hold it any longer. I’m going to cum.” He said with a hiss as he kept fucking her harder and harder. He could hear Haley giggling through her moans and looked back at him.

“Cum for me Garrett.” She whispered as she reached to grab onto her own breast. Garrett continued to thrust until he couldn’t hold on anymore before exiting her throbbing hole to release himself on her back, moaning loudly as he did. Haley felt the warm liquid pour out onto her back just above her ass. She watched in pleasure as Garrett orgasmed, loving his facial expressions when he did. Now completely out of breath, Garrett stood from the side of the bed and reached for the box of tissues on Haley’s bedside table. He cleaned off her back before cleaning off himself, then Haley stood to her feet. She grabbed his face and kissed him gently.

“That was so fucking hot,” She breathed into his mouth and smiled. She then grabbed his hand and walked for the bedroom door. “Now let’s get cleaned up and go to sleep. You wore me out.” Garrett smiled as the two set off for the bathroom. They quickly showered together, well more like made out some more rather than actually cleaning themselves off. Once they finished with the shower, the two retired to Haley’s bedroom for the night. Still naked from their fun and still wet from the shower, the two slipped under the covers and wrapped themselves up in the fluffy comforter. Garrett engulfed Haley in his arms as the two prepared to slowly drift off to sleep, pulling her close into his chest.

“I’m happy you finally asked me out. I was beginning to wonder when you would catch on that I liked you. It took you long enough.” Haley whispered with a giggle as she closed her eyes.

“Me too. Sorry it took me so long to realize, but it was fucking worth it.” Garrett replied as he kissed Haley lightly on the forehead before he fell fast asleep, resting his head lightly atop of Haley’s.

***

Shane knocked on the front door for a second time and waited for what seemed like forever for Ruby to answer the door. He didn’t hear any movement from inside the house, so he thought maybe she was asleep. After another few minutes, Shane finally gave up and walked down the porch steps. But paused when he heard his name come from inside the farmhouse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading. :)


	7. The Message

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Parts of this chapter were quite hard for me to write. 
> 
> Nothing is harder than feeling like you have no one there to help you through your darkest moments.

Shane looked around completely confused. He heard Ruby’s voice say his name, but she was no where to be seen. The front door was still closed, and she wasn’t outside, so where the hell was she calling him from? He wandered around the house trying to see if she was on the side of the house or by her car until he heard her again.

“Shane!” She yelled and this time Shane could hear it was coming from her bedroom upstairs in the house. Her window was wide open, and he could see her light was still on. Not wanting to look like a complete weirdo, he walked back to the front door and knocked louder. Now he could hear movement from inside the house as he heard loud footsteps moving towards the front door followed by a frustrated groan.

“Garrett, what the fuck? I can’t have one fucking night to myself?!” Ruby yelled while flinging the door open, only to be met by Shane. She was expecting it to be her brother trying to get inside and maybe forgot his keys, so she didn’t bother getting properly dressed when she went for the door. Ruby was wearing a matching set of black panties and bra underneath her slightly open robe while looking very flushed in the face. She eyes widened when she looked up into Shane’s eyes, who was staring at her body the entire time. He had seen Ruby in a bikini the entire day at the Luau, but somehow she looked so much sexier in underwear. She quickly covered herself by tying up her robe before speaking. She turned away in embarrassment.

“Shane, what are you doing here?” She asked softly. Shane didn’t speak, still admiring Ruby’s body. But realized how quiet he was being and cleared his throat.

“Sorry, I know it’s late, but I need to apologize to you for what I said on the beach. I was a completely ass hole and you didn’t deserve it,” He ran his fingers through his hair as he sighed loudly. “I almost drank alcohol when I got home. I stared at the can of beer and came so close to opening it. But I couldn’t do it, all I could think about what how shitty I was acting on the beach. So I came here instead. I didn’t want to end today with that conversation weighing over my head.” He confessed as he looked towards her face. She was still looking away and blushing a bright pink that glowed under the porch light.

“I just wasn’t expecting to see you again tonight. How long have you been standing out here?” She asked, which completely confused Shane. Did she not hear his apology, he wondered.

“Um, like ten minutes. I was going to leave when you didn’t answer but then I heard you yell my name so I thought you might had seen me, so I knocked again.” He then saw Ruby’s eyes widen as her face went from pink to crimson red. She turned back towards the door and threw her face into her hands.

“Oh my Yoba, this is an absolute fucking nightmare.” She muttered into her hands, causing Shane to scratch his head with more confusion.

“What is a nightmare? Were you not calling for my attention or did I imagine you saying my name?” He had so many questions and Ruby felt like she was going to throw up. When she didn’t turn around, Shane reached up and placed a hand on her shoulder trying to comfort her. “Ruby, what are you talking about?” And from Shane’s touch, she turned back to face him, face still completely red.

“No I was not calling for you, I didn’t even know you were here until now. I was kind of in the middle of something upstairs in my room,” She whispered the last sentence and Shane tweaked his eyebrow, hoping for more of an explanation. Ruby groaned with frustration when Shane didn’t get what she meant. “Never mind, it’s really not important. Come inside, I don’t really want to be standing in my underwear for all the world to see right now.” And with that, Ruby turned around and Shane followed closely behind, shutting the front door as he entered and locked it. It was almost midnight after all, who knows who’s lurking around outside in the middle of the night. Ruby made her way towards the stairs to the upper floor, but Shane didn’t go after her, thinking she wanted to change or use the washroom. She then turned around to see what he was doing when she noticed he was no longer behind her. He was standing in the kitchen with his hands in his pocket.

“Just come upstairs, Shane.” She said with an annoyed tone and disappeared down the hallway. Shane sighed nervously as he walked up the staircase and down the same hallway. At the end of the hallway was Ruby’s bedroom where he could see her sitting on the edge of her bed. Shane slowly moved towards the room and stopped at the doorway. He had never been inside her room before, so this was all new territory for him. He looked around her room, admiring the band posters on the walls and overall Ruby atmosphere. As he looked around, his eyes finally made contact with Ruby’s, who had been staring at him while he looked around. She patted the mattress next to her, signaling for him to sit down. Shane swallowed hard, moved into the room and sat beside Ruby.

“Ruby, I’m sorry for what happened on the beach. You didn’t deserve me losing my shit at you like that, you were only trying to be nice. I was being an asshole and --.”

“Yeah you were being an asshole,” Ruby rose abruptly and stood over him. “Believe it or not Shane, but I do care about you and I want you to get better. I’m not doing these things to be fucking nice or take pity on you, it’s because I fucking care about you!” She yelled while flailing her arms into the air. Shane didn’t speak, knowing Ruby might cut his head off if he even attempted. So he let her just chew him out. She began pacing around the room with her hands secured on her hips. “Why is it so hard for you to let people be nice to you? We had such a fun day today at the beach. You were getting along so well with everyone and I loved seeing you so happy. But then you just flipped and became super pissed again. What is going on?” She stopped pacing and stood again in front of him with her arms crossed against her chest. Shane looked up from the ground in front of him and looked at Ruby. He sighed loudly while running his fingers through his hair, making Ruby scoff.

“What?” Was the only thing he asked. Ruby looked down at the ground while shaking her head.

“I hate when you do that.” She spoke softly. Shane raised an eyebrow.

“When I do what?” He asked confused. Ruby looked back to him and walked towards him, closing the gap between them. Shane glued his eyes to Ruby’s, trying very hard not to look at her chest that was now eye level with his face.

“When you run your fingers through your hair like that, it drives me nuts.” She whispered while biting her lip and raising her hand to his hair, running her own fingers through his black-purple hair. It was soft to the touch and sent tingles down her spine.

As she touched him, Shane closed his eyes and fought every urge to grab onto her waist and throw her down on the bed. She stopped, making Shane feel a hint of disappointment before Ruby sat back down beside him and taking a hold of his hand, squeezing him tightly in her grasp. The two made eye contact, and Shane noticed a small tear in the corner of her left eye fall down her cheek.

“Ruby, please don’t cry.” He whispered as he raised his hand to wipe away the falling tear from her cheek. His touch was warm against her cheek, sending bolts of electricity down her body.

“You can’t slip up like you almost did tonight,” She spoke softly while staring into his eyes. “If you start drinking again, I’ll be completely alone in this. And don’t say I won’t be because I would be. Garrett doesn’t understand what I’m going through, and you do. I need you, Shane.” Ruby’s last words hit Shane like a ton of bricks; she needed him. He had only ever heard those words once before in his life when Jas became his responsibility after the demise of her parents and Shane’s best friends. Jas needs you Shane, he was told by Marnie when the little girl showed up at their house one morning five years ago.

“I won’t slip up, I promise.” He confirmed while smirking the smallest smile at Ruby, making her frown break into a grin. She let go of his hand and leaned towards him, making his heart race, and pulled him into a warm embrace. Shane wrapped his arms around her back as she inched herself closer to him on the bed and began to caress her back softly while she tightened her grip around his neck. She felt so good in his arms, he thought and could have stayed like that all night if he could.

“Good. Because I don’t want to have to kick your ass.” She whispered into his ear, making him laugh so hard that his whole body vibrated around her which caused her to burst out into laughter as well. She smacked him playfully in the back of the head before letting him go from her arms. The two looked at each other while continuing to laugh and the look on Shane’s face made Ruby’s heart feel full. He looked genuinely happy for once. He had an amazing smile which he hated showing off but when she got a chance to see it, Ruby took full advantage of the sight. While their laughter died down, Ruby continued to look at Shane’s face as his warm smile disappeared and he was now giving her a serious look. He raised an eyebrow when Ruby didn’t break the eye contact.

“What are you staring at?” He chuckled while she smiled brightly at him.

“I just love when you smile. You hardly ever do, so I need to stop and admire it when I have the opportunity.” Shane blushed while rubbing the back of his neck. No one ever told him they liked his smile, let alone loved it so he felt slightly uncomfortable. Shane broke the intense eye contact with Ruby and looked over at the clock on her bedside table, noticing it was 12:45 in the morning. When he left to go apologize to Ruby, Shane didn’t even think about how late it actually was, and Marnie would lose her shit if she woke up to find Shane missing. He cleared his throat while he rose to his feet and began walking towards the doorway of Ruby’s bedroom.

“Wow, it’s later than I thought. I should probably get going before Marnie thinks I collapsed in a bush somewhere or drowned in the sea.” He chuckled softly. Ruby frowned while sighing quietly to herself as she stood up from her seat on the mattress. She didn’t want him to leave but didn’t have the guts to ask him to stay so she didn’t.

“Yeah, wouldn’t want that. I’ll walk to you to the door.” She said while briskly walking past him and down the stairs. She could feel Shane’s eyes on her while she walked, making her smirk to herself while she walked. She even heard him sigh nervously behind her and almost laughed out loud from the sound. Once they reached the door, Ruby opened it for him, and Shane walked outside. He turned to face Ruby before leaving for the night, wanting one last look of her for the road. She was still only wearing her underwear and robe after all. Her cleavage peaked through the top of her robe just enough for Shane to get a final glimpse without looking like a complete creep. He rubbed the back of his neck as a diversion while looking down towards her chest for just a second before returning his eyes to hers.

“Good night Ruby. And I’m sorry again for tonight.” He said, making Ruby huff while smiling.

“You really do apologize too much. Don’t worry about it, I know you didn’t mean what you said. And you can make it up to me tomorrow,” She giggled. “Goodnight Shane.” She replied while she stood up onto the tips of her toes, placed her hands on each of his shoulders and gently kissed Shane’s cheek. And as her lips landed on his stubbled filled cheek, Shane grabbed onto her waist and pulled her close to him, catching Ruby off guard. She moved her lips away from his cheek and moved her eyes to meet his, wondering what he was doing. Their faces were inches apart and Ruby could feel his heavy breath on her lips.

“Shane?” Ruby said softly while not breaking their intoxicating eye contact, but he didn’t respond. He just remained still while holding her body close to his, feeling her hands slowly move from his shoulders to his chest, continuing to stare into her beautiful grey eyes. Finally after what felt like an eternity of standing completely motionless, Shane smiled a toothless grin down at Ruby and moved his face closer to hers, closing his eyes as he got closer. Ruby felt her heart beating rapidly in her chest, terrified it would jump out any minute. Ruby then closed her eyes as Shane’s lips gently pressed against hers and savored his taste on her mouth. Her heart continued to race as the butterflies in the stomach started flapping their wings, making her feel lightheaded. Their kiss was short and not very eventful, but it was effective. Electricity raced through both their bodies as they held onto their kiss, not wanting to let the other one go from this moment. But all good things must come to an end at some point.

Shane released Ruby’s hips from his grasp as the two parted from their kiss. At first, he was still in disbelief of what had just happened. He kissed Ruby, something he’d wanted to do since the first time he laid eyes on her but up until that moment, he didn’t know if it would ever happen. But Shane just couldn’t help himself anymore, he needed to feel her on his lips. And she tasted even better than he could have ever imagined.

After the high of the kiss wore off, Shane became nervous again. He looked down at the ground before shakily running his fingers through his hair, not noticing Ruby roll her eyes and smile at him. He took a step back from her to create some distance between them before stumbling through his good bye.

“Goodnight, Ruby.” He spoke softly as he looked back up at her, taking in her beauty for the last time that evening. She leaned against the doorway of the house and she crossed her arms across her chest, biting her lip while looking at the handsome man that stood in front of her.

“Goodnight, Shane.” She replied in a whisper before turning around and returning inside the house. As she closed the front door, she watched Shane retreat from the porch, disappear into the field and head for Marnie’s ranch before completely shutting the door. Once the door was closed, Ruby pressed her back against it and closed her eyes, reimagining every detail of their kiss. His lips were soft but rough from the stubble over his lip. His grip on her hips was gently but strong as if he didn’t want her to go anywhere. His kiss was so exhilarating, and Ruby wanted more as soon as possible. But given the late hour of the night, she would have to settle on her imagination for the time being.

Ruby raced upstairs back to her bedroom, shutting the door behind her as she entered. She tore off her robe along with her panties and bra as she moved towards her bed. Sitting down on the edge of the mattress, Ruby reached inside her bedside table drawer and pulled out her favorite sex toy; a thick purple vibrating dildo.

She had already gotten off to the thought of Shane before he showed up at her house, but with their kiss lingering in her mind, she was ready to go again. Ruby slipped her completely naked body under her bedsheets and positioned her toy between her legs, teasing her entrance with the tip of it. She was already soaking wet as her mind was going wild thinking about Shane’s soft lips, his strong hands, the way he runs his fingers through his hair and everything in between. She clicked the end of the toy, turning on the lowest vibrating setting while she pressed it against her clit, moaning softly as it vibrated against her. Her core, already hot from before continued to raise in temperature, yearning for more pleasure.

“Oh, Shane” She whispered to herself as she turned up the vibrating setting on her toy while she penetrated herself slowly, feeling the pulsing sensation inside her body. Ruby moved the shaft of the dildo in and out of her body in a rhythmic motion as she grabbed on to her breast with her free hand, pinching her nipple between her fingers as her moaning became louder with pure pleasure. Her body started becoming hotter and more tense as she moved the toy faster and harder into her body, occasionally letting the vibrations entertain her throbbing clit to the point of almost reaching her climax but pulling away just before to make her fun last longer.

Her eyes remained closed during her playtime, only imagining Shane’s lips on hers again, and even envisioning him fucking her hard while they kissed. While her thoughts dreamed of Shane’s hard dick thrusting into her, Ruby kept the vibrating toy on her clit long enough to send her into a powerful orgasm. She gasped in ecstasy while her whole body began to seize up from the eruption of pleasure happening between her legs.

“Fuck yes, Shane!” She screamed while riding out her orgasm, knowing very well that he was no longer lingering outside her home and that she was home alone, so she was free to be as loud as she wanted. As she pulled her purple dildo away from her body, Ruby still breathing heavy from her orgasm, all she could feel was her pulsating walls from underneath the sheets. She giggled to herself while peeling the covers off her body to expose her hot body to the cool air of summer. Ruby put her toy back into her backside table as she stood up from her mattress and headed for the bathroom, to shower off her sweaty physique. After her shower, Ruby got back into bed for the night. She was mentally and physically exhausted after a long day at the beach in the scorching hot sun, playing volleyball with her new friends, having two orgasms in a matter of an hour to Shane, so she was pretty much done for the day.

Ruby clicked her light off as she sat down onto her bed and got under the covers. Once she was comfortable, she reached for her cellphone so she could put on some music to fall asleep to. But once the screen of her phone lit up, Ruby’s eyes went wide, and she sat up from her mattress. A text message appeared across the screen from an unknown number, but when she read the message, she knew damn well who it was from. Her breath became short and she began to tear up. Suddenly, Ruby started to feel extremely unsafe. She looked back to her phone and read the message over and over again, as if it would change the more she read it, but it never did. She just continued to stare at the words staring up at her from her phone screen.

_I finally found you, Ruby._

****

Garrett woke the morning after the Luau to a loud ringing noise coming from somewhere in the house, startling him awake from a deep sleep. He opened his eyes slowly, first struggling to see from the sunlight beaming into the brightly painted bedroom. For a split second, he forgot where he was. That was until he felt the warm body lying next to him, still completely sound asleep and still completely naked from the night before.

Haley laid next to Garrett, breathing heavily as she slept while she lightly snored, which made Garrett chucked under his breath. She was still cuddled up close next to him, fitting into the nook of his body perfectly. The two had fallen asleep quickly after last night’s intense sex, clearly having had had quite the workout from all their pent up sexual tension. Her arm was draped lazily over his mid section, while her bleach blonde hair was covering most of her face.

Garrett looked down Haley, smiling to himself at how happy he was. Finally after years of back and forth flirtation and not so subtle hints, he and Haley had finally gotten together. He mentally was kicking himself for not acting on his feelings sooner. If only he had known how good it would feel to finally be this close with her. His thoughts immediately went to calling up Pierre later on and asking about his bouquets.

As he closed his eyes to try and get some more sleep, Garrett heard the ringing noise again and this time he recognized the sound. It was his cellphone ringing in his bag out in the living room. As his phone continued ringing, Haley stirred in her sleep, turning her body over and away from Garrett. He slowly lifted himself off the bed and searched for his swim shorts on the floor before running out to grab his phone. By the time he made it out to the living room, the ringing had stopped and quickly resumed again shortly after. Digging through his bag, Garrett finally retrieved his phone and saw it was Ruby calling him. He also noticed it was only 6:43 in the morning.

“Ruby? Hey, why are you calling me so early?” He questioned through his half awake and groggy state. And once he heard his sister on the other end of the phone call, he was fully awake. She wasn’t talking but sobbing heavily into the receiving end. “Ruby, what happened, what’s wrong?”

“Come home.” Was all Ruby could get out. She continued to cry into the phone while sounding like she was struggling to breathe. Garrett went into immediately panic mode. He started to feel guilty for being out all night while his dependent sister stayed home alone. He rushed back into Haley’s room to retrieve his shoes that he had kicked off the night before.

“I’m on my way.” He said firmly into the phone before hanging up. As he did, Garrett caught a glimpse at his home screen. His heart sank further into his chest when he saw he had 30 missed calls from Ruby, spanning the entire night. Something was definitely not right. Garrett sat on the edge of the bed while he put on his shoes. He was so focused on getting home that he didn’t hear Haley sit up behind him. So when she went to wrap her arms around him, it scared him out of his deep thoughts of Ruby.

“And where are you running off to? Come back to bed. I’m no where near done with you.” She purred into his ear while playfully biting his lobe, causing Garrett to sigh loudly. He could feel himself becoming hard just from the sound of her voice alone and was nowhere close to being done with her either. But family came first, and his sister needed him.

“Sorry Haley,” He started as he stood from the bed and turned about to face her. His eyes couldn’t help but stare at her exposed breasts. He loved the way they looked pushed together in her arms and had to hold back every part of him to not pounce on her. “I have to go. Something’s happened with my sister and I need to get home now.”

Expecting Haley to understand the concern in Garrett’s voice, he was surprised when she scoffed loudly at his refusal and had the most disapproving look on her face. Looking completely offended, Haley jumped out of bed to retrieve her robe from the back of her door. Tying it tightly around her trim waist, Haley stormed back over to her bed and sat on the edge while crossing her arms against her cross. Again to Garrett’s complete surprise, Haley began to pout like a spoiled child.

“What is so important that you need to leave right now? Can’t your sister survive one night without you there? She’s a grown ass woman who needs to learn how to live without her older brother constantly being by her side. It’s so pathetic, especially now that she’s becoming best friends with that drunken idiot.” She rolled her eyes and scoffed again while grabbing her phone from her bedside table to check on all her socials.

Garrett couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Sure, he knew Haley had tendencies to act like a spoiled princess every once in awhile, but to insult his sister without even knowing the situation was another thing. Not to mention her rudeness towards Shane, who wasn’t even a drunk anymore.

“Not that it’s any of your business, but my sister is going through some heavy shit right now. That’s why I begged my parents to let her moved in with me and get the hell out of the city. Her mental and physical health aren’t the greatest and she needs the best help I can give her. She needs me and I am not going to ignore her when she calls me and begs me to come home through her tears!” He barked with a sense of anger behind his voice while he stormed out of Haley’s bedroom to retrieve his bag. He could hear Haley gasp from behind him while she ran out of her room after him.

“So you’re just going to leave, after the amazing night we had together, for you sister!? I thought you wanted me and only me. Am I not important enough to you that you have to leave me for your sister?!” She yelled immaturely, making Garrett roll his eyes. This was a side of Haley he had never seen and was completely turned off by it. If he had known this side of her, he would have never had any interest in her. He threw his bag over his shoulder and turned on his heel for the front door, stopping once he placed his hand on the doorknob.

“Family comes first, Haley. You are important to me, but Ruby’s more important. When you’ve figured that out, you can call me. But I’ve wasted enough time dealing with your selfish attitude. See you later.” And with that, Garrett opened the door and took off for the farm, leaving Haley alone with his words.

She stood stunned for what seemed like forever staring at the front door, hoping that he would come back. But after some time had passed and Garrett hadn’t returned, Haley stomped her feet immaturely before storming back into her bedroom to grab her phone. She attempted to call Garrett several times but was sent to voicemail with each try. She sighed loudly as her heard his voicemail message for the seventh time in a row. Finally, Haley decided to leave a message for Garrett.

“Garrett, I am no one’s second choice, so we are done! Don’t bother calling me or showing up at my house begging for forgiveness because I have nothing left to say to you. Say goodbye to the best fuck you’ll ever have in your life! Good bye!” She screamed into the phone before hanging out, trying very hard to not let the tears that lingered in her eyes fall down her cheeks. She then aggressively threw her phone onto her mattress and crawled back into bed. She couldn’t help but feel alone and rejected. 

****

Ruby had gotten absolutely no sleep the night before. She couldn’t after reading that message from her unknown contact. Except that the sender wasn’t unknown to her. Ruby knew exactly who it was. Connor. Her mind was going a million miles a minute, wondering how the hell he was able to get her new number. Considering only her parents, best friend, Garrett and Shane had her new number. It was impossible. 

All through the night, Ruby had been trying to call Garrett but couldn’t get a hold of him. She tried dozens of times but was never able to get through. Not being able to speak either, she never left him a voicemail. Eventually she switched to her best friend, Ashley. Maybe she was awake. But same as Garrett, she couldn’t get a hold of her. Then Ruby tried both of her parent’s cellphones and their home phone. Nothing.

As a last stitch effort to have someone there for her, she tried calling Shane. Even though he had no way of ever giving her number out to her psychotic ex-boyfriend and they had never actually had a proper phone conversation before, Ruby needed someone there with her. She called and called and called, but he never picked up. No one was awake, except for her.

After dozens on dozens of failed phone calls, Ruby had now completely broken down. She slunk down onto the kitchen floor and leaned herself up against one of the kitchen cabinets, and proceeded to cry heavily into her hands, feeling completely defeated. At least Connor had only sent the one message, that was the one good thing about the entire situation. But it was still enough to scare Ruby into a full on shut down. And she was completely alone.

She remained on the floor of the kitchen for remainder of the night, until the sun began to shine through the far kitchen window. Ruby breathed a small sigh of relief that it was finally morning. She looked down at her phone for the first time in hours and decided to try calling Garrett again. And to her relief, after the third phone call, he finally picked up. The sound of his voice made her sob even harder than before, thankful to had finally gotten through to him.

“Ruby? Hey, why are you calling me so early?” She heard him say through the other end, but she couldn’t find the words she wanted to say through her tears. Then she heard her brother speak again. “Ruby, what happened, what’s wrong?”

“Come home.” She breathed out through her sobs, feeling out of breath as she did.

“I’m on my way.” Garrett said sternly before hanging up the phone. As their phone call ended, Ruby threw her phone to the ground again and curled herself up into a ball. She didn’t have to be alone much longer to her relief. Garrett would be home soon.

****

Garrett ran home as fast as he could, leaving his thoughts of Haley quickly behind him. To his relief, it was completely quiet and free from any of the residences of Pelican Town. No one was usually out and about at 7:00 in the morning, except for maybe Mayor Lewis, but thankfully he was no where in sight. Garrett darted down the pathway leading to the Cindersap Forest just past Sam’s house. It was the fastest route back to the farm.

He ran quickly past Marnie’s ranch towards the dirt path leading to his farm, startling a mother cow and her calf as he ran past. Garrett was so lost in his thoughts of his sister that he didn’t even notice Shane coming out of the ranch in his Joja Mart work uniform. But Shane had seen Garrett and was immediately worried to see him frantically running back to the farm at such an early hour. Clearly something wasn’t right.

“Garrett!” Shane shouted as loud as he could as the farmer darted past him, causing Garrett to stop dead in his tracks, almost tripping over his feet when he turned to see his caller. He looked back to see Shane, who was already quickly moving towards him. “Hey, what’s going on, is everything okay?”

Garrett was completely out of breath from running so quickly that he needed a second to regain his breath. While bending forward to place his hands on his knees to help catch his breath, he silently shook his head from side to side while wheezing from lack of breath.

“No. It’s Ruby. Something happened to her. I gotta go.” He finally got out before standing up straight and took off for the farm. Shane immediately felt his heart sink into his stomach. What the hell could had happened in the six hours since leaving the farm, he wondered to himself. Shane then reached into his pocket to give Ruby a call, to see if she was okay. And when he opened his phone, his heart sank further down.

Shane never checked on his phone since he usually never got messages or phone calls from anyone. The only people he usually associated with lived in the same house as him, so he never felt the need to check his phone. He wondered why he even bothered having a cellphone. But when he saw the 12 missed phone calls from Ruby spanning the entire night, he immediately regretted not only not checking his phone when he first woke up, but also that he didn’t sleep with his ringer on.

Without another thought and completely forgetting about the fact that he was scheduled to start work at 7:30, Shane took off for the Parker’s farm. He ran as quickly as he could for the farmhouse, darting through the acres of crops, passing the barn and coop before finally making it to the farmhouse. He wasn’t even out of breath, having had an instant adrenaline rush once he saw Garrett’s panicked expression.

As he reached the steps of the farmhouse, Shane noticed that the front door was left wide open from when Garrett ran inside. He could feel a lump form in his throat as he walked up the steps and through the front door, scared of what was on the other side of the door. Shane didn’t know what he was going to walk into. And that was when he was them, making Shane’s heart stop.

On the kitchen floor over by the refrigerator, Garrett was sitting cross legged with his sister in his lap, holding her like she was the most delicate thing in his life. There in his arms was a completely disheveled Ruby in his arms as she sobbed into his shoulder, gasping loudly through her shortness of breath. He was rocking her back and forth gently while softly caressing her back with his hand.

“Ruby, I’m here now. Don’t you worry, everything’s going to be okay.” Garrett whispered into his sister’s ear, attempting to comfort her. She never spoke, the only sounds escaping her were her loud cries in between her gasps for air. Garrett had been solely focused on Ruby that he never heard Shane walk inside the house. His eyes were closed trying to hold back tears of concern for his sister but shot them open them when he heard a floorboard creak from the other side of the room. Darting his eyes towards the sound, he was met with a worried looking Shane. Shane was met with a teary eyed Garrett.

Shane approached the siblings and crouched down on the floor next to them. Slowly, he placed a hand onto Ruby’s leg, startling her. She opened her eyes and looked over to the person trying to comfort her and felt an instant feeling of relief when she looked into Shane’s teary emerald green eyes.

“Shane,” She croaked out in an almost whisper through her heavy tears, curling the corners of her mouth up into a small smile, making Shane’s heart feel warm. Then she unclenched herself from her brother, confusing Garrett, and crawled over to Shane’s lap. She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face into the nook of his shoulder. Shane then snaked his arms underneath Ruby’s small, frail body and picked her up off the floor. “You’re suppose to be at work.” Shane quietly chuckled at Ruby’s concern for him, but he didn’t care about work at that moment. He would deal with Morris later.

“Don’t worry about that, let’s just worry about getting you up to bed. You need to rest. Garrett and I are not going anywhere, I promise.” Shane spoke softly while he turned on his heel and walked over to the stairs. Garrett picked himself off the floor and stared on in amazement at Shane’s sudden caring demeanor. He had never seen Shane like this in the five years he had lived in Pelican Town, not even with Jas. But he was beyond grateful for him caring for his sister in her state.

“Shane?” Garrett said loudly as his neighbor started up the stairs, causing him to turn around. “Thank you.” Garrett smiled through his tears. Shane simply nodded and shared a smirk before turning back to ascend up the stairs with Ruby cuddled up close to his chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading. :) 
> 
> Just an FYI, the next few chapters are going to be quite long, so get ready!


	8. The Friend

Garrett tapped his fingers eagerly on Robin’s wooden desk while he waited for the carpenter’s return. She had excused herself to help a pleading Demetrius with his latest experiment in his laboratory, but he hadn’t realized she would be gone for almost twenty minutes. He was in a rush to get back home, considering he had left Ruby alone for the first time in two weeks. Even though she was in the middle of a therapy session, he still wanted to be at least on the farm in case she needed him. But he really needed to visit Robin since the stupid kitchen sink had started leaking and Garrett had no tools to fix the damn thing.

Ever since the night of the Luau, Ruby was having anxiety and panic attacks on a daily basis. She would be fine one minute then struggling to breathe the next. It was scaring Garrett and he couldn’t figure out what was going on. Garrett tried talking to her about what was causing the attacks, but she wouldn’t tell him and that frustrated the hell out of Garrett. He wanted answers.

It got to the point where one day, Garrett took Ruby’s phone when she was in the shower and searched through her text messages and phone calls to see if someone was threatening her, someone like Connor. But to his disappointment, or relief, there was nothing out of the ordinary. No messages or phone calls. He even listened to any old voicemails she had saved, but again, there was nothing. Every possible answer led him to a cold trail.

Because Ruby was in constant state of panic, she started to lose sleep. She woke up almost hourly to horrific nightmares, which caused her to jolt awake in a panic and begin screaming at the top of her lungs. It was of course keeping Garrett awake all night too, which was affecting the work on the farm. He had accidentally forgotten about his Sweet Gem Berries in the greenhouse, leading to them all dry up and die. Ruby felt terrible and responsible, but Garrett just reassured her it wasn’t her fault, and he could always grow new crops. The only thing he cared about was helping his sister get better.

As Garrett continued to impatiently wait for the carpenter’s return, Sebastian appeared from his room in the basement. He started to head out the front door when he noticed Garrett standing by the shop front desk.

“Hey Garrett, what are you doing here,” Sebastian asked while looking around to see his mom was nowhere in sight. “Have you just been waiting up here for my mom?”

“I just needed some tools to fix my kitchen sink, but your mom’s been gone for awhile. She had to go help your stepdad with something, and I didn’t want to be rude and interrupt them. But I really hope she gets back soon. I have to get back to Ruby.” The sound of worry in Garrett’s voice was apparent to Sebastian, who then ran over to the lab and stuck his head in.

“Mom, Garrett’s still waiting out here for you and he needs to get home!” Sebastian shouted with an annoyed tone, making Robin gasp loudly and run out of the lab.

“Oh my Yoba, Garrett I am so sorry. You could have just come and grabbed me instead of waiting! Here are the tools. Just return them when you are done with them.” Handing over a small bag of tools to Garrett, he simply smiled at her before moving for the door.

“It’s not a problem, Robin. Thanks for letting me borrow these.” He thanked before walking out the door with Sebastian following behind him. Robin waved to the two men before quickly returning to the lab to continue helping Demetrius with his experiment.

“Sorry about my mom. She has the worst memory. Expect for Sam whenever he trails off about music,” He joked, but noticed Garrett wasn’t listening. He was staring off down the dirt pathway back to the farm. “Hey, Garrett, is everything okay with Ruby?”

“Yeah, she’s fine. Why do you ask?” He questioned before looking back over towards the dirt path, then down at his wristwatch. He noticed it was about the time Ruby’s therapy session normally ended and needed to get home. He couldn’t believe he had been gone for as long as he was.

“Because you’re making it obvious something’s wrong. Why do you need to rush home to your 26 year old sister, who is more than capable of being left home alone? Plus, I have noticed a car pulling up to your house every Tuesday and Friday for the last month,” Garrett fired a look over at Sebastian, wondering how he even saw the doctor’s car. “I sometimes hang out on the bridge over the highway when I’m smoking and noticed the car heading in your direction. Look, you don’t have to tell me what’s going on, but if you need to talk to someone not involved, I’m here.”

Sebastian began walking over to his closed garage where his motorcycle usually sat. Reaching down to open the door and getting it half way open, he suddenly heard footstep approaching him, followed by a loud sigh.

“Look, she wouldn’t want me telling you this, and she’d be pretty pissed if she knew I already told Alex too, but I’m tired of keeping everything bottled up. She’s not okay, she’s far from it,” Garrett exhaled loudly as he ran his fingers through his strawberry blonde hair. “She’s been in therapy for her past substance abuse troubles and mental health. Her doctor comes in from the city twice a week to see her. And the reason I’m so anxious to get back home is because something happened the night of the Luau that has caused Ruby to just spiral further into her depression, causing her panic and anxiety attacks to become a daily thing. Her mood is constantly going up and down, she’s always feeling sick out of nowhere, and she’s constantly paranoid that something is going to happen to her. But she won’t tell me what happened. I asked if someone in town hurt her, she said no, and she won’t let me ask any further questions. I’m so fucking worried about her, but she won’t let me help her in any way. So I don’t know what the fuck I’m supposed to do!” Garrett began shouting by the time he finished his rant. His face started turning red with frustration and he was breathing heavily from not taking a breath.

Sebastian looked up at Garrett as he closed the garage door, seeing the look of fear in his friend’s eyes. Sebastian couldn’t help but feel bad for not questioning his concerns earlier, wondering if maybe he could have helped out his friend and his sister. Placing his hand gently on Garrett’s shoulder, Sebastian patted him lightly before turning towards the dirt path back to the farm.

“Where are you going?” Garrett questioned as he followed his dark haired friend.

“We’re walking back to your house, so you check on Ruby. You were in a rush to get back, remember? I have to head in that direction anyways, so come on,” He said with a toothless grin. “Seriously though, you could have told me what was going on. Don’t feel like you need to keep everything bottled up. It isn’t healthy. I know from experience.”

Garrett couldn’t help but notice the pointed tone in Sebastian’s voice, knowing he was talking about his bottled up feeling towards his stepfather and stepsister. It took Sebastian almost three years of being friends with Garrett to finally reveal his feelings towards his family. Also, Sebastian had a front row seat to his own father’s substance abuse problems before his parents divorced, so Garrett knew Sebastian of all people would understand what he was going through. He was mentally kicking himself for not confiding in Sebastian earlier.

“Just don’t say anything to Sam or Abigail. I feel bad keeping such a big secret from them, but I just don’t want more people knowing what’s going on with Ruby. Not until she’s out of this dark hole she’s currently spiraling down. Yoba, I hope these therapy sessions are helping her.” Garrett sighed as the two friends continued walking through the luscious green pathway above the highway. Sebastian reached into his pocket to grab himself a cigarette, offering Garrett one as well. Contemplating for a moment, he finally agreed a took hold of one of the cancer sticks.

“Don’t worry, I won’t say anything. But just out of curiosity, is this the same therapist that’s been seeing Shane?” Garrett shot a confused look over to Sebastian. “Marnie told the moms during one of their exercise classes that he’s been seeing a therapist. Yoba, those women don’t know how to go a day without gossiping.”

“For fuck sakes, you’re telling me. Shane is not going to be happy if he finds out the moms in town all know. Maybe that’s why he hasn’t been going into town unless it’s for work. He specifically asked Marnie to not tell anyone what he was going through. Sometimes I wonder if those women care more about talking shit about the rest of town more than their own families, no offense to your mom.” Garrett growled as he took a long drag from his cigarette, surprising Sebastian he wasn’t coughing from the long inhale.

“None taken. But speaking of Shane, what’s up with him and your sister? They seemed to have become pretty good friends since she moved here. And look how Shane was at the Luau, laughing and actually having a good time. I haven’t seen Shane that happy or friendly with anyone since we were in high school.” Sebastian asked while taking his own drag.

“They definitely have become really good friends. They’ve been helping each other through their sobrieties, which seems to have brought them closer. Guess it helps that they share similar problems and hopes to become clean. Shane’s even been over everyday since the Luau, making sure Ruby is doing okay, and he hangs out with her whenever I need to go to pick something up from Pierre’s. I think he really cares about her. And it seems like Ruby’s a lot happier when he’s around.”

“Do you think anything else is going on between them? Like romantically?” Sebastian questioned, making Garrett stop and think of a moment.

“I don’t think so, she’s never mentioned having feelings for Shane, and she usually tells me everything. But I think after how horrible Ruby’s last relationship was, she isn’t looking to date anyone at the moment. She needs to concentrate on getting better first, or else I’m scared she’s going relapse into her old habits and do even more damage than before. But I’m glad she has a friend who can help her through this,” Garrett confessed as he and Sebastian made their way onto the farm. “Thanks for letting me talk about this. It’s just been messing with my head lately, it helps to talk about it, you know?”

Sebastian patted Garrett lightly on the shoulder while giving him his signature toothless smirk as the two friends walked past the barn towards the front of the house.

“No problem. Like I said, if you ever need to talk about it, you can always call me,” Looking down at his wristwatch, Sebastian noted the time, making him sigh as he ran his fingers through his long black hair. “Shit, I was supposed to meet Sam and Abigail for band practice like ten minutes ago. I gotta get going. But if Shane is hanging out with Ruby tonight, you should stop by the Saloon. I’m in desperate need to play pool against someone other than Sam for a change. It’s quite exhausting winning every single game.” Sebastian joked with a single huff as he waved off to Garrett.

“I just might take you up on that offer. See you later, Seb.” Garrett smiled as he waved off his friend, watching him take off in a sprint down the dirt pathway into town. Before heading inside to see how Ruby was doing after her therapy session, Garrett walked over to the mailbox to retrieve his daily mail.

While rummaging through his pile of letters, Garrett couldn’t believe the amount of mail he usually got every single day. He had his weekly letter from his parents who were asking how Ruby had been doing, one from Pam asking for some of Garrett’s newest brew of his homemade beer, and some junk mail from Joja Mart. Finally at the bottom of the pile was a letter from Demetrius, reminding Garrett of the upcoming Dance of the Moonlight Jellies at the end of the month, marking the end of summer. While looking down at the letter, Garrett couldn’t believe it had already been a month and a half since Ruby had moved in with him. And the longer he thought about it, the more he couldn’t believe how quickly time had been passing. The beginning of the summer seemed like such a distant memory in his mind.

While Garrett continued going through his mail, he headed back to the farmhouse to see what Ruby was doing. But from the porch, he could hear upbeat music playing faintly inside, so he assumed she must have been in a good mood after speaking with her doctor. Even so, Garrett couldn’t help but feel guilty for being gone longer than he normally would have, silently cursing Robin in the back of his mind for making him wait for as long as he did.

As he walked inside the house, Garrett could hear Ruby in the living room vacuuming. She was singing loudly along to her music, clearly not attempting to sound good as she sang along. Garrett couldn’t help but laugh, considering he knew his sister had a beautiful singing voice, but like to joke around and sound terrible every once in awhile.

Placing his pile of mail down on the kitchen table, Garrett moved into the living room where he found Ruby dancing around with the vacuum as she tried making the room look as clean as possible. On the coffee table near by, Garrett spotted several bags of chips and candy, making him raise an eyebrow at what she had planned.

“Ruby!” He shouted over the music and vacuum, causing Ruby to scream from having the shit scared out of her. Garrett couldn’t help but laugh at how she basically jumped out of her skin before turning off both the music and the vacuum.

“Yoba, you scared me!” She yelled as she ran over to her brother and smacked him playfully in the arm, making Garrett laugh harder.

“Sorry, couldn’t help myself. So, what’s going on in here? The doctor tell you to clean up the whole house or something?” Garrett joked as he moved into the living room, taking a seat on the couch to admiring all the goodies on the table.

“He left about 15 minutes ago, and we had a really good talk today. But I’m happy it’s finally done because I wanted to get some cleaning done before Shane comes over tonight. We’re going to be doing a movie marathon! I got some snacks for us to pig out on all night and I have a little surprise planned for when he gets here.” She giggled as she took a seat next to her brother.

Garrett couldn’t help but look over at Ruby as she sat down next to him, noting she was in a better mood than she had been in the last few days. He figured her talk with Doctor Robert really must have been a good one. He was grateful she acting more like herself than she had for the previous two weeks. Garrett then watched as she leaned over the side of the couch and could hear the sound of a shopping bag rustling before she lifted up a bag of his favorite chips.

“I also got these for you as a thank you for everything you’ve done for me these last few weeks. I know I haven’t been the easiest to live with, but I’m hoping this makes up for it a little bit.” Ruby smiled as she handed Garrett a bag of Ketchup Chips, making Garrett’s eyes glow with delight. She knew very well he hadn’t had his favorite chips in awhile, considering he had mentioned them several nights prior in one of their random conversations.

“Sweet, thanks Ruby! But where did you get these? I thought Joja Mart didn’t sell these, and I know Pierre doesn’t either.” He looked at her confused. Garrett hadn’t seen Ketchup Chips anywhere in Pelican Town since moving there. He always had to go to the next town over if he wanted them.

“Shane said Joja Mart got a small shipment of them a couple days ago, so I asked him to pick up a few bags for you. I think they’re sold out now though.” She admitted before standing from the couch to continue cleaning.

“Damn, I wish I knew. I would have bought every last bag! Maybe I’ll bring these with me when I go to the Saloon tonight,” He declared, earning a look from Ruby. “Oh shit, I didn’t tell you. I ran into Sebastian when I was at Robin’s and he wants me to come out tonight to the Saloon. He’s in desperate need of some real competition. You going to be okay if I go?”

“Yeah, of course. You don’t need my permission. Shane will be here anyways to keep me company, so I’ll be fine. Please go and have some Ruby-free fun. Now get out of here and let me clean!” She joked as she turned the vacuum back on, along with her music. She started immediately singing obnoxiously loud again as Garrett left the room laughing loudly.

Looking down at his watch, Garrett still had the rest of the morning and early afternoon to get some much needed work done around the farm. Quickly throwing on his work gear, Garrett got straight to work on the kitchen sink. Thankfully, he was able to fix it in no time. Once he was done with the sink, Garrett ran outside and got straight to work on his newest growth of Sweet Gem Berries in the greenhouse. He was thankful he still had some seeds left over from the mysterious travelling merchant and time to regrow them fully before the Stardew Valley Fall Fair.

***

As the clock struck 6:00 in the evening, Ruby heard a loud knock come from the front door. She had sent Garrett on his way to the Saloon when she got a message from Shane saying he was on his way, giving her time to set up the living room for her night with Shane and not have Garrett constantly in her way. She raced to the door after putting the final touches on her and Shane’s night of movies.

They had decided the day before they would spend the evening watching a six part horror movie franchise from the mid eighties, since they were both into horror films. Knowing the movies were cult classics and neither of them had seen all of them, they had decided that it was about time they watched them. Ruby had laid out multiple bowls of chips and candy, as well as several varieties of sparkling water, knowing it was Shane’s drink of choice as of late. She also pulled all the cushions off the couches and took all the throw blankets they had to create a makeshift fort on the floor for her and Shane to watch from. The fort had several pillows sprawled about to make it extra comfortable. She was quite proud of her work and made her feel like a kid again.

When she had reached the door and flung it open, Ruby was greeted by Shane. But standing behind him was Marnie and Jas, who Ruby was not expecting. Ruby knew who Jas was, since Shane had talked about the young girl multiple times, but she hadn’t had the chance to meet her during her time in Pelican Town, because of everything she was going through with her own health. She quickly looked back at Shane, who was clearly uncomfortable and a little annoyed.

“Sorry. Jas really wanted to come over and meet you. Marnie insisted on letting her.” He mumbled quietly under his breath, making Marnie smack him lightly in the arm. Ruby covered her mouth with her hand while trying to hide her laughter as she watched Shane roll his eyes and rub his arm where Marnie hit him.

“Hey everyone! What a nice surprise,” Ruby cheered as she gave Shane a quick hug before moving to Marnie. Then she kneeled down on the floor and raised to hand to properly introduce herself to young Jas. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Jas. I’m Ruby.”

Hesitant at first, Jas looked up to both Shane and Marnie, as if asking them what she should do next. Both Shane and Marnie nodded their heads along with a smile before Jas turned back to Ruby and lightly shook her hand. Looking quite shy at first, Jas’ demeanor quickly shifted to her usual self. She was giving Ruby her biggest smile while showing off her two missing front teeth.

“Hi, Ruby, my name is Jas! Wow you’re really pretty. Uncle Shane, you were right, she is really pretty!” She shouted as she looked back at to Shane, who was beginning to turn a light shade of red from sheer embarrassment. Marnie began to chuckle, which made Shane groan in further humiliation, causing Ruby to laugh as well.

“Thank you so much, Jas. You’re really pretty too,” Ruby smiled brightly again towards the child. “I’m so sorry we haven’t had a chance to meet yet. I’ve been really sick and wanted to get better before meeting you. I hope that’s okay.”

Marnie took a step forward, resting her hands lightly against Jas’ shoulders as she looked towards Ruby.

“Jas has been very patient with waiting for you to feel better. But she was very excited when she heard her uncle was coming over again tonight, so she insisted on coming over tonight to say hello. Don’t worry, we wont be staying long, Jas actually wanted to bring you something to help you get better.” Marnie tapped the young girl on the shoulder, forcing Jas to look up at her Aunt with confusion. But within a second, the lightbulb above her head clicked on.

“Oh yeah, I forgot,” Jas chimed as she reached for her backpack. Quickly opening it, she pulled out a small purple teddy bear with a white bow around it’s neck. Jas gave the teddy bear a squeeze and a kiss before handing it over to Ruby. “This is for you, Ruby. Her name is Sprinkles. She is my second favorite teddy bear, and I want you to have her. She will help you not be sick anymore.”

Ruby resisted with all her strength not to cry at that moment as she gently took the bear from Jas. She felt her eyes start to pool with tears as she gently hugged the stuffed animal, making Jas smile up to both Shane and Marnie.

“I think she likes it!” The young child shouted, making Ruby laugh and open her arms up to Jas. The young child quickly moved into Ruby’s arms, wrapping her small arms around her neck while Ruby engulfed her in a warm hug.

“I love it, thank you so much Jas. I will take good care of Sprinkles, I promise.” Ruby whispered into Jas’ ear before letting her go. As Ruby stood back up, she caught a glance of Shane, who was giving her a look she had never seen before from him. A look of pure happiness as he watched his friend fall instantly in love with his Goddaughter.

While Ruby and Shane continued looking at each other wordlessly, Marnie suddenly felt like it was time for her and Jas to go so the other two could start their night of hanging out. She grabbed a hold of Jas’ hand as the pair turned for the steps.

“Well, we are going to head home now. It’s time to get this one some of her favorite dessert. How would you like some Pink Cake, Jas?” The question caused Jas to gasp dramatically and jump for joy, making the three adults laugh around her. “I’ll take that as a yes. We’ll see you two later. Have a good night!”

“Thanks Marnie. Have a good night, Jas! I’ll see you soon!” Ruby declared as the two stepped off the porch and started for home back to the ranch. Shane simply waved as he watched his Aunt and Goddaughter take off into the fields, Jas walking backwards as she continued waving her tiny arm at the two friends.

“Sorry about them. It was a last minute decision they made as I was walking out the door. I hope they didn’t overwhelm you.” Shane said as he turned back to Ruby, following her inside the farmhouse.

“Yoba, no! I’m so happy I was finally able to meet your Goddaughter. I love her so much already!” Ruby smiled as she took off for the living room with a skip in her step. “But now it’s time to start our mega movie marathon! What do you think of my awesome fort?” She asked while Vanna Whiting her efforts. Shane walked into the living room and immediately started to laugh at how over the top everything was but couldn’t help but smile.

“Wow, you went all out. But looks great. Now let’s start these movies, it’s going to be a long night.” He said as he took a seat inside the cushion fort and grabbed the television remote. While he turned on the first movie, Ruby took a seat next to him and got herself comfortable amongst the mountain of pillows, grabbing herself a drink as the first movie began to play.

“So, you think I’m pretty?” Ruby asked with a smirk before starting to giggle, making Shane blush a light pink and roll his eyes.

“I’m going to kill that kid.” He joked while grabbing a pillow from beside him and smacking Ruby playfully in the face. He didn’t think Jas was listening when he admitted he thought Ruby was pretty.

“You didn’t deny it.” She joked back while hitting him back with the same pillow.

“Shut up and watch the damn movie.” Ruby couldn’t help but burst into laughter at Shane’s bright red face as he stared at the television screen with a smile across his face.

***

“Well, well, well. Look who decided to fucking show up!” Sam yelled as Garrett made his way into the backroom of the Stardrop Saloon, greeting him with a hard slap on the back while Garrett put down his almost spilled drink. “Where the hell have you been, man? We haven’t seen you since the Luau!”

“Yeah, Garrett, you suddenly too good for us now,” Abigail teased as she welcomed Garrett with a big hug. “Seriously though, what have you been up to? We haven’t seen you in weeks. We were about to send out a search party.” She asked, making Garrett shoot a look over at Sebastian, who was standing near by chalking the end of his pool cue. Giving him a calming yet reassuring look, Garrett knew Sebastian hadn’t mentioned anything from their earlier conversation to neither Sam nor Abigail.

“Sorry guys. I’ve been pretty busy with the farm. You know, the one supplying the entire town with fresh produce and goods?!” He joked while winking at his friends. “It’s been a busy season, but I thought I could use a night out for some fun. So let’s get this pool game started, shall we?” He hollered as he grabbed the second pool cue from the wall.

Sam and Abigail sat on the nearby couch as Sebastian and Garrett began their first game. The four friends talked about what was going on around town since their last hang out. Apparently Garrett had missed quite a bit while being preoccupied with his sister. The week before, Pam was cut off by Gus and kicked out of the Saloon for breaking the jukebox. She apparently didn’t like the songs it had been playing and got frustrated before throwing her mug at it. Sam had finally asked Penny out on a date, which she happily accepted. The two of them took the bus into Zuzu City and went to a fancy restaurant, and had been all lovey dovey ever since, according to Abigail. The last major thing that had happened was that Shane hadn’t been to the Stardrop Saloon in at least a month and had officially quit drinking, which surprised literally everyone in town.

“I still can’t believe he quit drinking. Shane, the town drunk! I gotta say, I’m actually proud of him. He even seems happier whenever I see him at work. It must be from all that time he’s been spending with your sister,” Sam joked, making Garrett groan in frustration and look over to Sebastian, who just shook his head. “What’s going on between those two anyways? They seem to have become fast friends. Did you see the way Ruby was hugging him at the Luau? And where has she been? I haven’t seen her in weeks.”

Garrett was quickly becoming annoyed with all the comments and questions about Ruby. Sam had no idea what was going on, yet he still felt the need to be so involved in Ruby’s personal life. And Abigail was no better. She had been calling every other day asking Garrett to bring Ruby out to the Saloon but was told every time that Ruby has not feeling well. The two friends just weren’t taking the hint that she wasn’t coming out.

As Garrett turned to confront Sam and Abigail, another person walked into the backroom, turning everyone’s attention over to them. To Garrett’s relief, it was Alex. He was carrying a large tray of shots in one hand and his stereo in his other hand. Apparently word had spread beyond the Saloon about the broken jukebox. Placing it down on the side table, Alex quickly turned it on and cranked the volume, making the others holler with excitement while they all took a shot from the tray.  
  
“Hey, I heard the farmer was finally coming out tonight, so why not have some fun before he locks himself back up on that farm of his?!” Alex shouted as he threw an arm around Garrett’s neck and proceeded to playfully noogie him. Everyone in the room erupted with laughter as Garrett straightened up his messy hair, thanks to Alex.

Just as Alex started handing out shots, more people started to gather into the small backroom. Elliott and Harvey were the first to arrive, followed by Penny and Maru, which surprised almost everyone. Normally, the two ladies didn’t venture into the Saloon, mainly because Penny didn’t want to witness her mother’s drunken behavior first hand. But Sam had convinced her to drop by and just to ignore the other side of the bar.

The music was bumping loudly as everyone started dancing and the drinking became heavier, which made Gus extremely happy to receive the business. While everyone else occupied themselves with dancing, Sebastian and Garrett stationed themselves at the pool table, since they had decided to start their own tournament to decide once and for all who was the better pool player between the two of them.

“Okay Seb, that is now four games for me and two for you.” Garrett smirked while chalking the end of his cue, making Sebastian grumbled under breath as he angerly set up the table for another game. Garrett couldn’t help but laugh as he watched Sebastian become angrier with every game he had lost to the farmer.

“Shut up and hit the damn balls.” Sebastian mumbled as he leaned against the back wall, watching Garrett laugh as he positioned himself for his first move. As he broke the first shot, Garrett saw out of the corner of his eye Alex leave the backroom and could hear him talking loudly to someone in the main area of the Saloon. Paying no further attention to Alex, Garrett was able to sink two solid pool balls. He couldn’t help but smirk when he could hear Sebastian swearing as he lined up his first shot.

“Come on in, Ladies! The party has only just begun!” Alex slurred through drunken speech as he walked back into the backroom with Leah closely beside him, holding onto his hand tightly. Garrett looked over at the couple entered the room and waved at Leah, who then smiled awkwardly towards him before looking behind her. Garrett raised an eyebrow as to why Leah was giving him such a strange look, since he hadn’t spoken to her since the Luau. But then he saw who she was looking at once Haley had entered the backroom.

Garrett hadn’t seen Haley since the morning after the Luau, trying his very best to avoid her at all cost. Since that morning, he had received several very angry messages from the gorgeous blonde, but never replied to any of them. He just couldn’t deal with the way she reacted that morning towards Ruby or her immaturity.

As she looked around the room and greeted everyone, Haley’s eyes eventually landed on Garrett, who was also looking at her. But as soon as they made eye contact, Garrett turned his attention back to his and Sebastian’s pool game, making Haley’s heart sink and eyes begin to water. Clearly, he didn’t want to see her.

Trying to hide her face from the rest of the crowd, Haley turned to face the main area of the Saloon while Leah reached out to grab onto her shoulder.

“Hey, Hales, you okay with Garrett being here too? We knew there was a chance he was going to show up tonight. We can leave if you want.” Leah whispered into the blonde’s ear so no one else could hear their conversation.

Over the sound of the music playing and the others drunkenly yelling over each other, Leah could help Haley sniffling as she wiped her eyes from her fallen tears. While trying to conceal her face, Haley looked over her shoulder at Leah quickly before looking over in Garrett’s direction. He wasn’t paying attention to her in the slightest. He was laughing at something Sam had said while taking his next shot of his pool game. He had acting as though she wasn’t even in the room.

“I can’t be here with him. I need to get out of here.” Haley uttered under her breath before running out of the pool room, with Leah following closely behind.

Everyone in the pool room didn’t even seem to notice the absence of both Haley and Leah as they all continued drinking and having a good time. Expect for Garrett. As soon as Haley turned out of the room, Garrett watched as the two girls left as quickly as they possibly could, knowing that she was caught off guard to see him in the Saloon. Garrett knew she was definitely running back home in tears after seeing him, but he didn’t know why he even cared after what happened between the two of them. He was so put off by her childish behavior, he didn’t even want anything to do with Haley. So why the fuck did he care, he wondered to himself as he stared off into space, drowning out the sounds of the music as well as Sebastian trying to get his attention.

“Hello, Garrett? You still with us?” Garrett snapped back to reality once he felt a push on his shoulder from his black haired friend. He quickly looked over to see Sebastian chuckling as he chalked the end of his pool cue. Shaking Haley from his mind, Garrett turned his full attention back to the pool game. Well, most of his attention, causing him to lose the next three games.

***

By the time the fifth movie had ended, both Ruby and Shane had completely passed out. Having each had about ten sparkling waters and had polished off most of their snacks, the two had gave in to their junk food crashes and didn’t even make it half way through the movie. Plus it was well after one in the morning by the time they had started the fifth movie.

As a loud scream came from the television, Shane was jolted awake. As he opened his eyes, he was temporarily blinded by the white screen of the television, making him confused as to where he was. Looking around him, he noticed he was surrounded by empty cans of sparkling water, chip crumbs, candy wrappers and right next to him was a sleeping Ruby.

She was completely engulfed in a sea of blankets and pillows, as well as a mountain of empty sparkling water cans. She was definitely in a deep sleep since her mouth was hanging slightly open and breathing incredibly heavy. Shane chuckled to himself once he caught a glimpse of her, never seeing her sleep so heavy before. But then he also realized that it was the middle of the night and was still at the Parker’s farm. Looking down at his watch, Shane couldn’t believe it was reaching 3:00 in the morning!

Shane hadn’t planned on staying the night and was hoping Marnie wasn’t losing her mind since he wasn’t home yet. Why didn’t Garrett wake him up when he got home from the Saloon, Shane thought to himself as he carefully shuffled himself out of the cushion fort towards the television to turn off the unwatched movie. He moved as quietly as he could so he wouldn’t wake Ruby, who clearly needed the sleep. But as soon as the room went dark and quiet, Shane could hear movement from inside the fort, following by a small moan and long sigh.

“Shane?” He heard Ruby’s groggy voice come from inside the fort, making him feel bad that he wasn’t quiet enough. Soon, her head emerged from under the blankets, looking out to him. He couldn’t really see her with only the bright light from the moon shining into the living room, which was able to capture half of her face. Even in the low lights of the night’s sky, Shane still thought she looked beautiful.

“Hey, go back to sleep. I’m going to head home, but I had a great time. We’ll have to finish the movies another night.” He whispered as he felt around for his hoodie. But as he was searching with just his hands, he suddenly felt Ruby grab onto his hand.

“I want you to stay,” She whispered as she squeezed his hand tightly in hers. She then let go of his hand and disappeared back inside the blanketed fort. After rearranging the blankets and pillows inside to make it more comfortable, she re-emerged. “Please, Shane? I feel safer when you’re here.”

Shane contemplated what to do next, taking in Ruby’s words as he thought about whether he should stay or not. He of course wanted to but didn’t know if it would be a good idea or not, making him extremely nervous to the thought of staying. They had never spent the night together before, so this was all new territory for him. As he continued to stand in silence, Shane felt Ruby grab his hand a second time as she pulled him into the fort next to her. She clearly wanted him to stay, making Shane’s decision easier.

“I’ll stay.” He said quietly, making Ruby smile. He couldn’t see her in the complete, but he knew she was smiling. He could feel her energy changing, making him smile as well. As the two laid back down on the makeshift mattress, Ruby pulled the blankets overtop them and snuggled herself up close to Shane’s side. Suddenly, he felt Ruby’s head on his shoulder and her arm drape over his midsection. Squeezing him lightly in her arms, Shane couldn’t help but smile to himself.

“Goodnight, Shane. Thanks for staying.” She whispered before closing her eyes again.

“Goodnight, Ruby.” He replied as he closed his eyes and rested his head gently atop of Ruby’s before drifting off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading. :)


	9. The Game

Summertime was always everyone’s favorite season in Pelican Town. The weather was always gorgeous, the ice cream stand was actually opened for everyone to enjoy and it was of course the perfect time to enjoy a dip in the ocean. So when the summer season was slowing coming to an end, everyone was sad to see the perfect weather disappear for another year. But at least the town still had the Dance of the Moonlight Jellies to look forward to, so it kept the villagers in high spirits. Well, everyone except for Haley.

“Hey, where the hell is my damn hairbrush?! Yoba, I hate when you move my things without my permission!” The blonde screamed from her bedroom door towards her sister Emily, who was attempting to read a book quietly on the couch. Choosing to ignore her younger sister’s immature outburst, Emily just sighed loudly as she turned the pages of her book, which pissed off Haley even more than she already was.

“Hello?! Earth to Emily! I asked you a question. Where. The Hell. Is MY HAIR BRUSH?!”

Slamming her book down on their coffee table, Emily stood from the couch and turned to face her brat of a sister. She had officially had enough of Haley’s rude outbursts.

“Haley, you are changing the energy of the house to a very pessimistic force and I must admit, I am not a fan of it or your horrible attitude,” Glancing over to their shared bathroom, Emily notices the infamous hairbrush sitting on the countertop. “I’m guessing you didn’t look in the bathroom. You would have saved yourself a lot of energy if you looked there first.”

Without saying another word, Haley stomped over to the bathroom, and retrieved her hairbrush. Turning back towards her bedroom, Emily couldn’t help but smirk to herself when she saw how embarrassed Haley was with not checking the last room she had been in that morning. But Emily couldn’t decide if her crimson red face was from embarrassment or from unnecessarily screaming at her innocent sister.

“Haley,” Emily called out, forcing Haley to turn back into the living room. “What’s been going on with you lately? Ever since the day after the Luau, you’ve been real short. Now I’ve tried my best to mind my own business and let you move on from these random outbursts, but I can’t ignore this any longer, especially after what happened at the Saloon last week. Tell me what’s going on.” Emily patted the couch cushion next to her, signaling for Haley to take a seat.

For a few minutes, Haley stood in the doorway of her bedroom, fiddling her hairbrush in her hands and contemplating whether or not she wanted to spill all the details of the night of the Luau with her big sister. Then after battling her inner thoughts, she let out an exaggerated sigh before walking over to the couch and dramatically falling next to her sister. As soon as she hit the couch cushion, Haley began to dramatically cry.

“It’s that stupid Garrett! He completely humiliated me after the Luau! I spent months trying to get his attention for it all to blow up in my face. We spent this amazing night together and then ditched me to run home and take care of his pathetic sister! Who does that? And he had the nerve to call me selfish when I got upset, can you believe that?! Then he completely ignored me when I showed up at the Saloon, like I didn’t even exist! He completely used me!” She wailed through her crocodile tears as she flung her head down into Emily’s lap, making Emily roll her eyes. It wouldn’t be the first time someone called Haley selfish.

Emily sighed loudly as she gently stroked her sister’s blonde locks, who was still sobbing loudly into her lap. She hadn’t seen Haley that upset since she lost out on being the Flower Queen three years prior to Leah when she and Elliott came up with an interpretive dance that really impressed the rest of the town. Haley ran home crying before the Flower Dance ended and wouldn’t leave her room for almost a week. She also wouldn’t talk to Leah for almost two weeks. It took Leah having to bake her a Pink Cake and gather a bouquet of Sunflowers to get Haley to forgive her, which she did. But Haley never let anyone else win Flower Queen since that day, which left Emily feeling embarrassed by her little sister’s selfish attitude.

“Haley, I’m sure Garrett had a good reason for leaving the way he did. Maybe someone happened with Ruby and she really needed his help. He’s not the type to use anyone for his own selfish intentions. Did you ever ask him why he needed to leave so abruptly?” Emily questioned while continuing to stroke Haley’s hair. Suddenly, Haley shot her head up from Emily’s lap, starling Emily a bit. Haley looked over at her sister, glaring daggers at her.

“Didn’t you hear what I said? He ditched me after he slept with me! I shouldn’t have to ask him what happened with his sister. Who cares about that?! What about my feelings?! No one ever cares about my feelings!” She screamed while standing to her feet and storming back into her bedroom, slamming the door behind her, knocking the portrait of their family that was hanging beside her bedroom door to the ground.

Groaning in frustration, Emily reached for the phone beside her and called Sandy. Emily knew she could always count on her girlfriend to confide in. As the phone became to ring, Emily walked over and picked up the broken portrait from the floor along with the broken pieces of glass.

“Hey, Sweetie! It’s almost like you knew I was thinking about you! I’ve been really missing you today. When are you coming over for a visit?” Sandy’s cheerful voice sounded through the phone, making Emily smile.

“Hey, Sandy. That’s actually why I’m calling you. Do you mind if I come over? My sister needs some time alone and I’m kind of feel like I’m in the way over here.” She questioned while placing the broken photo on the table in the living room, admiring her parents as she put it down. Emily couldn’t help but miss her parents at that time, knowing her mother could easily handle Haley when she was acting like a princess.

“Of course, Emily! You don’t have to even ask, you know that. I’ll see you soon, and if you can please bring me a Sweet Pea, that would be divine. Bye Lovely!” Sandy gleefully said before hanging up the phone. Running into her bedroom, Emily quickly grabbed her overnight bag and stuffed some clothes inside. As she exited her room, Emily glanced over to Haley’s closed door, contemplating if she should even bother saying goodbye.

But she chose not to, knowing Haley would have just ignored her. Emily swiftly moved to the front door and ran for the bus stop. She was in desperate need of some positive energy after dealing with Haley, and knew Sandy was the right person for the job.

Back inside the sister’s home, Haley could hear the front door close from inside her bedroom. Haley then grabbed onto a pillow from her bed and pressed it to her face, screaming as loud as she could into it. As she screamed louder and harder into the pillow, Haley’s eyes began to water from the force of screaming so hard as well as her own emotions hitting her hard.

“Fuck you Garrett.” She said to herself as she wiped the tears from her eyes. She had been crying over Garrett ever since the morning after the Luau, which was something she didn’t normally do. Haley had never been rejected by a man in her life, so she wasn’t quite used to the feeling of rejection, and it stung her badly.

Picking up her phone from her mattress, Haley strolled through her many contacts to Garrett’s name, wanting to call him and give her a piece of her mind. But just like every other time, she couldn’t bring herself to call him. She just couldn’t bear listening to his voice, or even worse she couldn’t deal with being straight to voicemail again.

So instead, Haley kept scrolling until she came across her best friend’s name and called her.

“Hey Haley!” Leah’s always cheerful voice came through the phone just moments after Haley called, making Haley grateful her best friend was always so reliable when she needed her. Sniffling into her phone, Haley mustered up her next words.

“Can you come over? I just can’t get him off my mind and it’s driving me crazy. I need some distraction. Bring all the chocolate you have and some alcohol. And don’t start with ‘it’s not even noon yet’ because I don’t care! I need to forget about him.” She blubbered into the phone, making Leah respond quickly.

“Don’t worry. I have everything we need. I’m on my way!” Leah quickly responded before hanging up her phone. Haley slammed her phone back down onto her mattress before grabbing her pillow for a second time and continued screaming into it as loud as she could. Her throat quickly became dry and painful as she started sobbing into the pillow, hugging it closely into her chest. She couldn’t believe she was acting like that for a guy who didn’t seem to be interested in her anymore, but Haley had never felt that way about anyone before. She had never met someone like Garrett before in her life.

Garrett was just so genuine and had a heart of gold, which made everyone in town fall in love with him instantly. He was always willing to help others while still trying to keep his farm afloat, which everyone seemed to admire, including Haley. He was so determined to be successful in life but retain his kindness to those less fortunate. He completely paid for Pam and Penny’s new home without giving it a second thought or even without being asked to do so! No wonder everyone in town thought he was the best addiction to their small town.

Maybe that was why Haley just couldn’t move on from him, knowing deep down she wanted him back and wished that morning after the Luau never happened the way that it did. But on the other hand, she felt like she was just pushed aside with no regards for her own feelings and that was the part Haley just couldn’t move past. She was never anyone’s second choice, and she was never going to apologize for how she acted.

***

“Ruby! Hey, are you going to help me at all or are you just going to play with Sapphire all day?” Garrett shouted as he looked over towards the barn for his sister, who was supposed to be helping him gather that morning’s finished crops. She was instead standing next to the young cow while giving her loving pets.

After Garrett had noticed Ruby’s continuing improvement in her mood as well as her panic attacks becoming less frequent, he allowed her to be more useful with the farm work. She was complaining less and less about feeling sick and seemed to be completely over her what seemed like irrational paranoia. Even though he never figured out where the hell it had even come from, Garrett was just happy to see Ruby looking like she did when he was living back in Zuzu City. She seemed to have won against her inner demons.

“Sorry! I got distracted,” Ruby shouted as she gave her favorite cow one last kiss before running back over to her brother. “But I did finish feeding all the animals and cleaned up inside their homes. So I wasn’t completing distracted.” She smirked as she caught up with Garrett, making him chuckle under his breath. Wrapping his arm around her neck, Garrett pulled Ruby close to his chest and kissed the top of her head.

“Seriously Ruby, I swear you love that cow more than you love me. Now let’s check on those Gem Berries.” He laughed as they headed over to the greenhouse to check on the progress of Garrett’s Sweet Gem Berries. Even though they still have a couple weeks of growing to go, Garrett wanted to make sure the berries were coming along as they should. He was officially out of time to plant anymore before the fall fair, and he didn’t want anything to happen to them like his last growth.

“They’re really coming along this time! They look even better than the last ones. You’re definitely going to win that competition!” Ruby praised as she and Garrett closely examined the preciously rare fruit. Garrett couldn’t agree more, noticing the fruit was coming in a lot plumper than the last batch. But only time would tell with the berries, since they still had a few weeks left to grow to reach their full maturity.

After examining the entire supply of crops in the greenhouse, the sibling duo headed back towards the farmhouse to grab an early lunch. Ruby whipped together her famous fish tacos from the fresh tuna that Garrett had caught just the day before when he visited Elliott at the beach. Once everything was ready to eat and since the weather was still acceptable for outside dining, they decided to eat their lunch on the porch.

“Wow, tastes great, Ruby!” Garrett complimented as he inhaled his second taco in a matter of minutes. Ruby couldn’t help but giggle as she watched her brother messily stuff a third taco into his mouth.

“Thanks, but my Yoba, will you please completely chew your food before swallowing it? You’re going to get sick if you keep eating like that and I’ll have to finish all the work by myself,” She joked as she finished her first taco, making Garrett flash her a sarcastic smile as he swallowed his third taco. Ruby couldn’t help but burst out into a fit of laughter as Garrett started hiccupping from eating too fast. “Told you so.”

Just as the siblings finished up their healthy lunch and began cleaning up, Garrett spotted out of the corner of his eye someone running towards them from the south side of the farm. Once he got a better look at the person, he realized it was Shane. He had never seen the former alcoholic run so fast in his life. Garrett patted Ruby on the shoulder and pointed out to Shane, forcing her look over towards her friend.

“Hey Shane, what’s going on, everything okay?” She called out at Shane reached the point, completely out of breath from running at full speed the whole way to Parker farm. He bent down to catch his breath for a moment once his adrenaline wore out.

“Remember that contest I was telling you about for the chance to win two free tickets to tonight’s Gridball game?” Ruby nodded with a chuckle, considering it was all Shane could talk about for a week. “Well, I won, I was the fucking eleventh caller! I won two tickets close to the field, a signed jersey from all the Zuzu City Tunnelers players and free refreshments!” Shane couldn’t stop smiling as he bragged to his friends. Neither Ruby nor Garrett had ever seen Shane so happy in the time they knew him, but they loved seeing him so excited.

“Oh my Yoba, that’s so awesome! Congrats Shane! You totally deserve to go to that game, you’re the biggest Tunnelers fan I know!” Ruby exclaimed while she wrapped her arms around his neck, making him engulf Ruby in his arms and squeezing her tightly into his chest.

“Congratulations Shane! Damn, Alex was the eighth caller when he tried calling. He’s going to be so jealous you got them. But Ruby’s right; you definitely deserve to go,” Garrett congratulated Shane with a handshake as he loosened his grip around Ruby. “So who are you planning on bringing with you?”

Shane looked over towards Ruby, knowing she was the only person he wanted to bring to the game. She was the one person who had never shown him judgement since meeting him and wanted her to be there with him. But he also knew the game was going to be in Zuzu City at their stadium. He knew deep down she probably wouldn’t want to go after what happened the last time they were in the city together, but he still wanted her to go.

“I was hoping Ruby would come with me,” Ruby’s eyes went wide as she smiled brightly. She was so happy and surprised that Shane picked her above everyone else in town. She didn’t even watch Gridball or know much about the game. “But the game is at Zuzu City Stadium, and I know you said you don’t want to go back to the city. So I won’t pressure you to go with me. I don’t want you to be uncomfortable or have something happen while we’re there. I would feel awful if something happened because of me.”

Ruby’s smile quickly disappeared, completely forgetting about what happened the last time she and Shane were in Zuzu City. She had pushed that memory back to the furthest part of her mind and never wanted to remember what happened that day. The very thought of being in that city again made her stomach turn, knowing her past was just waiting there for her to come back and return to her old habits. But she really wanted to go with Shane and celebrate with him, so in her best effort, she pushed every negative thought of hers to the back of her mind.

“Of course I’ll go with you. It will be so much fun and don’t worry about me, I’ll be totally fine. Since you’ll be right there to keep me safe.” She smiled towards Shane with a wink, making him smile in return with a hint of pink in his cheeks. Shane loved it when Ruby looked at him with that sparkle in her eyes. It made him feel like he was actually wanted in this world.

As Shane and Ruby continued smiling at each other, Garrett suddenly felt like he was just forgotten by them. He just kept looking between the two of them trying to get their attention but wasn’t getting it. So Garrett tried to pull them out of whatever trance they were in. He awkwardly cleared his throat, making the most disgusting noises as he did it. But as gross as it was, it definitely caught both Shane and Ruby’s attention.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Ruby sneered a look of disgust towards her brother while Shane just raised an eyebrow towards the farmer. Garrett simply just raised his hand to his mouth to hide his smart ass smile.

“Nothing, I’m fine. Just clearing my throat,” He said nonchalantly as if he didn’t do anything out of the ordinary. “Anyways, Ruby, do you think it’s a good idea for you to go back to Zuzu City so soon? You won’t even tell me what caused your panic attack when you were there, and you swore you wouldn’t go back at all. I just want to make sure you’re making the right decision for yourself.”

Ruby sometimes hated how protective Garrett was over her since it wasn’t his responsibility to protect her. But on the other hand, she couldn’t help but love him even more when he played the protective brother role perfectly. She took both of his hands into hers, squeezing them tightly as she looked up at him.

“Garrett, I will be fine. It’s not like I’m going to be wandering the streets of downtown Zuzu all by myself, I’ll be with Shane the whole time. We are going straight to the Stadium, staying for the game and then coming home. I promise, nothing will happen. Now would you please stop worrying and just let me have some fun?” She Ruby questioned as she looked deep into her brother’s eyes, flashing her signature puppy dog eyes. As soon as Garrett laughed to laugh, she knew he had fallen for it just like every other time she flashed the look.

“Okay, fine. I’ll stop worrying. But before I can let you go; we have to finish some work around here. We still have a farm to maintain, you know. So let’s get going before it gets too late.” Garrett said as he quickly picked up the plates from breakfast and headed inside.

“Well, I’ll let you finish up the rest of your work before he grounds you for the evening,” Shane teased as he ran his fingers through his hair, making Ruby roll her eyes. Shane knew how much that drove her crazy. “So the game starts at 7:00, so we’ll need to leave around 5:30. That will give us time to get into the city and get our refreshments before the game. I’m so fucking excited! I haven’t been to a Tunneler’s game in almost eight years.” Shane’s face shined brightly with his smile, making Ruby’s heart beat fast. She loved when he smiled.

“I’m excited too! Thanks for inviting me, but honestly you should have invited Alex or even Garrett to go with you. Both of them are huge Gridball fans and would actually be able to understand what’s going on. I might be boring company for you.” She joked but wasn’t actually joking at all. She really didn’t know anything about the sport.

“Yeah, I could have invited one of them. But I only want to go with you,” Shane admitted, making his cheeks glow pink with embarrassment. While trying to hide his face, Shane turned away from Ruby, as if looking out into the field. “Anyways, I’m going to get going. I’ll be back around 5:30. See you later.” He mumbled before taking off for the ranch.

Ruby watched as Shane walked away, barely able to contain her laughter as she did.

“You know, you’re cute when you get embarrassed!” She shouted out to Shane, forcing him to turn around as he continued walking and playfully flipped her off with both hands. Ruby doubled over with laughter as Shane turned back around and started to sprint home, quickly disappearing beyond the tall corn stocks.

Once she was able to regain her breath, Ruby ran inside to find Garrett, who was finishing putting their dishes from breakfast into the sink. She was smiling from ear to ear, extremely excited about the game and being able to enjoy it with Shane. Ruby was so giddy, and Garrett definitely noticed.

“Shane really made your day, didn’t he? I haven’t seen you this excited in Yoba knows how long. Alex is going to be so jealous when he finds out you two are going to this game. He tried so hard to find tickets, but they sold out so quickly. He’s going to lose his mind when he finds out Shane won the tickets.”

“Well maybe you should invite him over tonight so the two of you can watch the game together. Maybe you guys will see me and Shane on TV!” Ruby squealed as she ran towards the stairs heading to the second floor.

“Where are you going? We still have to finish up with the crops. The Starfruits aren’t going to pick themselves!” Garrett shouted as Ruby ascended the stairs.

“Going to the bathroom. Is that okay with you, boss?!” She sarcastically shouted back as she shut the door behind her. Quickly sitting down to do her business, Ruby kept thinking about how much fun her and Shane were going to have at the Gridball game.

Ruby had never been to the Zuzu City Stadium before, even though she always lived about a half an hour away from it during her time to college. She then remembered some of her favorite bars and clubs were just a few blocks away from the stadium, remembering how many nights she spent in downtown Zuzu with her old friends getting completely wasted and blacking out. She wanted to push those memories to the back of her mind again, but they seemed to be fighting against her.

All of a sudden, Ruby was hit with all of bad memories from her past all at once, remembering why she was avoiding Zuzu City in the first place. The image of her so-called friends pressuring her into using drugs popped in her head, followed by images of her waking up in the hospital after she overdosed, then she finally saw Connor’s wickedly evil face. The site of his face made Ruby go straight into the first panic attack she had in almost a week.

“No, no, no. Not now.” She said to herself as she tried shaking off the beginning of her panic attack, but it didn’t help. It was coming in fast and she couldn’t stop it.

Ruby began breathing heavily, trying to find air as she started wheezing from lack of breath. She clasped onto her chest, feeling as though her heart was about to explode from her body. The room started spinning around her as Ruby attempted to stand from the toilet. Shakily pulling up her shorts, Ruby collapsed to the ground. Tears began pouring out of her eyes as Ruby tried fighting off her panic attack.

“Come on, Ruby. Breathe.” She whispered to herself as she searched her brain for anything that would calm her down. Doctor Robert had been teaching her how to fight through her panic attacks, and so far she hadn’t had to use his techniques. But she figured she needed to try something.

Taking in the deepest breath she could, Ruby slowly let it out while she closed her eyes. She thought of things or people that brought her joy. She continued breathing slowly as she found some of her happiest thoughts; her family’s vacation to Ginger Island, Garrett buying her a guitar for her birthday one year, her best friend Ashley surprising her at college for an old fashioned sleep over.

All her memories seemed to be helping, but none were completely helping her panic attack, so she searched her brain deeper and deeper for more recent memories. Ruby felt herself calming down slowly as she thought of when she moved in with her brother at the beginning of the summer, her first festival in Pelican Town where she met all these wonderful people, and of course there was Shane.

Ruby had only known Shane for a little under two months, but she already had so many great memories with him. Their first meeting by the docks, playing Volleyball together at the Luau, their movie marathon when Shane spent the night for the first time and lastly, their first and only kiss the night of the Luau. The thought of their kiss calmed Ruby down completely, making her heart rate return to normal. Taking a final deep breath in, Ruby felt herself calming down as she continued seeing Shane in her mind, making her smile through her fallen tears.

Doctor Robert had told her to find that one memory that made her smile above all other things, and that memory was of Shane’s kiss. A feeling she had only experienced once but could remember like it was yesterday. Ruby could still remember how his lips felt against hers, his intense smell of aftershave on his face, his firm grip on her waist and the taste of his mouth. He tasted like sparkling water, pizza and hot peppers from all the food he had enjoyed that day at the Luau. The very thought of it made Ruby even start to giggle. 

“Hey, Ruby! Are you okay up there?” Ruby could hear Garrett’s muffled voice from the main floor of the house as she finally stopped herself from crying and had completely calmed down. Looking down at her watch, Ruby realized she had been in the bathroom for almost 15 minutes. Garrett must have been getting worried when she didn’t come back, she thought to herself as she picked herself up from the floor.

“I’m fine. I’ll be right down!” She shouted as she looked at herself in the mirror. Quickly splashing her face with cold water, Ruby took one final breath before running back downstairs. Thankfully, Garrett didn’t seem to notice she had been crying. She seemed to have gotten through her panic attack with some ease, thanks to Shane.

***

“Hey Garrett, could you get that please? I’ll be down in a minute!” Ruby yelled as she heard the doorbell ring from her bedroom. She was still getting ready and was kicking herself for taking too long to figure out what to wear. But she really wanted to look the part for her first Gridball game.

Thankfully, Garrett had an old Tunneler’s jersey that didn’t fit him anymore, since it was from when he was a teenager, so he offered it to Ruby when she complained that she didn’t know what to wear to a sporting event. To her relief, it was about her size, only slightly too small of her. It had been washed so many times, the shirt was too short for her body, leaving her midsection visible. But it still hugged her body nicely, so she didn’t complain. She paired the jersey with a pair of short white shorts and matching white sneakers. Ruby looked at herself a final time before running downstairs to meet up with Shane.

When she got downstairs though, no one was to be seen. But she could hear chatter coming from the living room. Once she made her way inside the living room, Ruby found her brother, Alex and Shane all talking loudly over each other about the Tunneler’s stats and their chances of winning the game. All of the guys were so into their conversation, none of them had even heard Ruby enter the room. She couldn’t help but laugh at how passionate all three of them were about the Tunnelers and Gridball. 

“As much as I love hearing you guys scream over each other like this, I think it’s time Shane and I head out. We don’t have to miss the game!” Ruby shouted as loud as she could, forcing the guys to break their conversation and look over. As Shane looked over towards her, he couldn’t help but stare at how gorgeous she looked. He especially loved seeing her in a Tunneler’s jersey and couldn’t keep his eyes off her bare stomach.

“Shit, sorry Ruby. We didn’t hear you come in,” Alex apologized as he grabbed his beer off the coffee table. “But hey, you definitely look like you’re ready to enjoy your first Gridball game! I wish I could go with you guys tonight.”

“Too bad, man. You’re stuck with me tonight.” Garrett joked as he playfully punched Alex in the arm, causing the jock to throw his arm around Garrett’s neck into a choke hold. The two friends began to wrestle, almost knocking over the open beer bottles on the near by table. Shane just shook his head as he stood from the couch to join Ruby in the doorway, trying hard not to stare at her for too long. But he just couldn’t get over how sexy she looked.

“Well, we better get going.” Shane mumbled as he exited the room, with Ruby following closely behind him.

“Bye boys, please don’t kill each other! We’ll be home later!” She shouted as she and Shane left the farmhouse, hearing Alex and Garrett shouted their goodbyes while still play fighting. Ruby could hear glass breaking as she closed the front door, knowing they had definitely made a mess in the living room. She couldn’t help but roll her eyes as she headed to the car, knowing she would be coming home to a mess from Garrett and Alex. But at least she didn’t have to worry about it for the rest of the night. All she needed to worry about was getting to the Stadium on time and enjoying the game with Shane.

***

“Holy shit, I have never seen anything like this before in my life!” Ruby gasped as she and Shane entered the main area of the stadium. She looked up and all around at all the other spectators in the stands surrounding the Gridball field in the middle of the stadium. Everyone was wearing the colors of either the Zuzu City Tunnelers or the Grampleton Fielders, so it was just a sea of Tunnelers’ Green and Fielders’ Yellow.

“I know, it’s pretty amazing when it’s your first time! I can still remember my first Tunnelers’ game,” Shane shouted as he and Ruby walked towards their seats, with their hands full of complimentary refreshments. “Come on, our seats are just over here, and they are the best seats I’ve ever been in. You can’t get any closer than this!” Ruby loved how enthusiastic Shane was being. His smile seemed to be permanently plastered on his face and Ruby wished he could always be this happy.

The pair took their seats just as the game had started, bringing the crowd to their feet with a roar of loud cheering and screaming. Shane was up out of his chair not even a second after sitting down, almost knocking down his sparkling water and his popcorn as he did. He started shouting alongside the other spectators, applauding loudly when the Tunnelers hit the field and booing even louder then the Fielders came out. Ruby was completely startled as Shane started yelling, having never seen her friend speak much louder than a whisper before.

“Yeah, come on Tunnelers! We got this! Don’t let me down!” He shouted before taking his seat again next to Ruby, who had been staring at him the whole time. Completely entranced by the game’s beginning, Shane didn’t even notice her looking at him. But Ruby didn’t seem to care, she was just enjoying seeing him so happy and as if he had nothing bad ever happened to him in his life. He had this positive glow about him, something that Ruby wished he always had.

“Okay, since you don’t know much about Gridball, I’ll explain how to the game works.” Shane started as he continued staring out towards the field, watching every play as he did. Secretly Ruby didn’t care much about the game, but knew it was Shane’s passion, so she let him go on and on about how the game was played. Plus she was just happy to be able to enjoy his favorite sport with him and spent the alone time with him.

As each play was made, Shane continued explaining the rules of the game and how points were accumulated in order to win the game. He spoke in extreme detail, making it easier for Ruby to follow along, even beginning to ask questions herself about the game. As the game went on, Ruby started becoming more and more interested.

Every once and a while, he would interrupt himself by standing and shouting towards the field, either positively from his team scoring or aggressively from the opposing team scoring. Even though she didn’t know exactly what was going on, Ruby would yell alongside him, making him laugh out at how into it she was getting.

After an hour and a half of gameplay, it was down to the final play and the game was tied. Shane was sitting on the edge of his seat while Ruby had her knees up on her seat with her arms wrapped tightly around Shane’s neck, holding onto him with anticipation as the play started. The crowd around them began to erupt with cheers.

“Let’s go Tunnelers, win this fucking game!” Ruby shouted loudly, making Shane reach up and cling onto Ruby’s arm. His adrenaline was pumping as he watched the players move across the field. The Fielders started the play with the Gridball, but soon lost possession as the Tunnelers moved in and took control. Shane gasped loudly as he and Ruby stood to their feet. The clock was counting down the seconds quickly as the players moved towards the end zone.

“Yes, come on you guys! Keep running!” He screamed at the top of his lungs as the players move closer and closer to the end zone. And just as the final buzzer went off, the Tunnelers scored the final play, winning the game.

“WE WON!” Ruby squealed loudly as she and Shane began jumping up and down with excitement. Turning towards each other, Shane embraced Ruby in his arms tightly while the whole stadium celebrated, except for the fans of the Grampleton Fielders.

“Holy shit, I didn’t think they’d pull through at the end there, but they did! This has been the best game I’ve ever been to.” Shane laughed as he pulled out of his hug with Ruby and smiled. Suddenly without any hesitation, Shane grabbed onto Ruby’s face and pulled her towards him, placing his lips against hers. Ruby was on cloud nine as Shane’s lips pressed against hers. She had been wanting to taste his lips on hers for what seemed like forever. So when she felt Shane start to pull away, Ruby took matters into her own hands.

She snaked her arms around his neck tightly before he could release himself from her lips as she kissed him harder than before. She could feel Shane’s arm wrap around her waist as he lifted up into the air and started spinning her around. Ruby started giggling into his lips, causing Shane to do the same. As she began tangling her fingers through his hair, Ruby released herself from his lips so she could see him. Shane couldn’t stop smiling as he pressed his forehead against Ruby’s while placing her back down on the ground.

“Sorry, I got a little carried away. But it doesn’t seem like it bothered you,” He whispered into her lips, making her smile brightly and shake her head. “Yoba, I’ve been wanting to kiss you again for so long. But with everything that’s been going on, it didn’t feel right until now.”

“That’s okay, Shane. It was definitely worth the wait.” Ruby whispered back, making him smile before placing his lips on hers again. Pulling her closely into his body, all Shane wanted was to feel as close to Ruby as he possibly could. Feeling her warm skin against her fingertips, Shane couldn’t believe he actually had Ruby in his arms. He couldn’t remember the last time he had a day like that, but he wouldn’t change a thing about it.

***

“Damn that was a good game,” Alex said as he finished his last beer for the night. “I hope Shane and Ruby had a good time. But fuck, I wish I could have been the one to go to the game!”

Garrett laughed as he stood up from the couch, definitely feeling slightly inebriated as he did. Since he didn’t usually have beer on the farm, it had been quite awhile since he was able to have a drink. But he sure did enjoy himself, especially since it had been awhile since him and Alex had been able to hang out.

“Next game we definitely need to try getting some tickets.” Garrett suggested while he started cleaning up the living room. They were beer bottles everywhere, along with crumbs all over the couches. Ruby would lose her shit if she saw how dirty the two of them managed to make the room, especially after Ruby had just cleaned it.

“Good idea! And maybe we can bring Leah and Haley with us. Like a double date.” Alex sounded excited, thinking the girls would actually want to go to a Gridball game. Garrett on the other hand was far from excited. He still hadn’t mentioned to Alex about what happened with Haley, and apparently Leah hadn’t told him either. She clearly knew something was wrong after what happened at the Saloon.

“Probably not the best idea considering Haley hates my guts and wants nothing to do with me. I don’t even want anything to do with her either after what happened.” Garrett admitted as he left the room, making Alex run after him.

“Woah, woah, woah. What the hell happened? You two were all over each other that whole day. I’m surprised you didn’t fuck each other while everyone was still on the beach.” Alex laughed, causing Garrett to roll his eyes.

“She is a spoiled princess who thinks she’s the only person in the world. She freaked out on me the morning after we slept together when Ruby called me in fucking tears, begging me to come home. I tried explaining to Haley that Ruby’s been going through some hard times, but Haley just wasn’t getting it. She wasn’t understanding that Ruby needed me and kept calling her pathetic. Don’t even get me started on the immature voicemails she left me. I just can’t believe after five years of knowing her, I never thought Haley was that self centered.”

Alex’s eyes widened with disbelief, having known none of that went down between Garrett and Haley. But he honestly wasn’t all surprised. He had known Haley even since they were kids, and knew she had a tendency to ask like a spoiled brat from time to time. He just figured she would eventually grow out of it but seemed like he was wrong.

As Alex went to open his mouth, Garrett’s phone started ringing loudly. Reaching into his pocket and pulling out his phone, Garrett laughed at the name that was appearing across the screen before showing it to Alex. It was Haley.

“This should be interesting. I don’t normally answer her calls but what the hell? This might be worthy of a good laugh. Let’s see what she wants,” Garrett scoffed as he picked up the phone call, placing it on speaker. “Hello Haley. What can I do for you?” He said in an aggressive tone, thinking she would just hang up once he answered. But she didn’t. He and Alex listened as rustling sounds came from the receiving end, followed by whispers from two women. Must have been Leah with her, they both figured.

“Garrett,” Haley slurred into the phone, clearly drunk herself. “Why won’t you talk to me? I have been trying to call you all night, but you won’t answer! What did I do wrong?”

“Because you told me you wanted nothing to do with me, remember? You told me to never call you again. So I haven’t.” Garrett sternly said back into the phone, and he was met with silence. Thinking she must have hung up her side of the phone, Garrett went to end the call. But just as he went to hang up, he could hear Haley crying on the other end of the phone.

“I miss you, Garrett. I’m so sorry for what I said about Ruby, she’s not pathetic. Even if she’s best friends with Shane. Yoba, you must think I’m the biggest bitch in the world, and you wouldn’t be wrong. I just wanted you all to myself. I’m sorry. Yoba, I’m such an idiot! Leah, why did you let me call him?!” She was screaming through her sobs before the call ended. She had hung up on him before letting Garrett respond.

“Woah, that was intense,” Alex said as he and Garrett continued staring down at the phone in complete confusion. “She sounded really embarrassed before she hung up. Are you going to call her back and see if she's okay?”

“No.” Garrett quickly shook his head before placing his phone down on the counter behind him. Without saying another word, Garrett turned back towards the living room to finish cleaning up their mess. Knowing he didn’t want to talk about it, Alex left it alone and went to help Garrett finishing cleaning the living room. But as Alex walked away from the kitchen, he could hear Garrett’s phone ringing again behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading. :)


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